CHESS by Philidor
No. 288
C. PROMISLO (and Prize, Boston Transcript, 1919) WHITE to play and mate in two moves; solution next week. Solution to No. 287 (Becker): R-B 4, threat R-K 4. I PY.R=Q; 2 QxB. 1, R-B 6 ; 2 R (4)x R. 1 . . . R- Q 5; R x R. I ... B-B7;2QxB.In- teresting, if slightly thin, problem. BLACK (6 men) WHITE (9 men)
THE PRINCE OF DENMARK
One of the most interesting developments in the last couple of years has been the return to form of the Danish grandmaster, thirty-one-year-old Bent Larsen; with Bobby Fischer he is the only western player whe can play against the leading Russians with a real chance of success and, though Fischer is probably the more gifted of the two, it is doubtful whether on current form he would win a match with Larsen.
Larsen first appeared as a real star at Moscow in 1956 when on top board for Denmark he scored it wins, 6 draws and z loss (curiously enough to the Scottish top board, W. A. Fairhurst) and won the prize for the best top board score ahead of the world champion Botwinnik amonst others. Then only twenty- one, he seemed to have a brilliant future but after a number of further successes his play fell away and it looked as if he had burned out. Recently, however, he has had a remarkable revival. He reached the candi- dates' tournament-the last eight from whorl" a challenger is chosen to play the world champion-and in this beat Ivkov easily by 5i-21, and then lost narrowly by to Tal in the semi-final. In the other semi-final Spassky beat Geller and in the play-off for third place (Spassky being first and Tal second) he 1. beat Geller 5-4 : when one remembers that Geller beat Smyslov 5i-2.} it is clear what a remarkable 2.
performance this was. A further indication of his 3. current form is the ease with which he won at Le Havre, two points ahead of the Russian grandmasters Polugayevsky and Krogius.
Larsen is a very interesting player ; he has original ideas in the openings and in the Interzonal tourna- ment in 1964 successfully revived a number of old lines. He has now added solidity to his brilliance and can win a long hard ending as well as a dashing attack. I don't think he can quite win the world title but he has a chance against anyone ; it would be a match of great interest-and one from which both players would benefit-if he could play the twenty-two-year-old Fischer for the unofficial championship of the West. The games would almost certainly be technically interesting and it should be a close match with the outcome quite uncertain. Wonderful if we could have it on neutral ground in England.
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