Once when I was reading a book from Kasparov he quoted that most of the modern ideas in the semi-Slav came from Larsen games. Does anyone know good novelties that Larsen brings in this opening?
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1 Answer
Kasparov in My Great Predecessors, Part 4:
Generally speaking, Larsen's contribution to the development of opening theory is not very great, since usually he aimed to lure his opponents into little-studied variations and mainly relied on his skill in the middlegame. Nevertheless, he played a key role in the development of what is currently one of the most popular lines in the Semi-Slav Defence, the so-called improved Meran Variation:
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5 e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dc4 7.Bc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7!?
One of Larsen's ideas was to allow a check on b5 and give up castling rights. In return he got a strong knight on d5. He first used this idea in the Candidate match Ivkov-Larsen 1965, see game below. Read more about it here.
Sample games:
[FEN ""]
[Event "Larsen-Ivkov Candidates Quarterfinal Match"]
[Site "Bled YUG"]
[Date "1965.07.05"]
[EventDate "1965.06.27"]
[Round "6"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Borislav Ivkov"]
[Black "Bent Larsen"]
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.d4 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4
b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.e4 b4 10.Na4 c5 11.e5 Nd5 12.Nxc5 Bxc5 13.dxc5
Nxc5 14.Bb5+ Kf8 15.Qd4 Qb6 16.Be2 h6 17.O-O g6 18.Bd2 Kg7
19.Rac1 Rac8 20.Qh4 g5 21.Qg4 Ne4 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.Qxe4 Nf4
24.Qe3 Qxe3 25.fxe3 Nxe2+ 26.Kf2 g4 27.Ng1 Nxg1 28.Rc1 Rxc1
29.Bxc1 Bxg2 30.Kxg1 Bd5 31.Bd2 Bxa2 32.Bxb4 Kg6 33.Kf2 Kf5
34.Bc3 h5 35.Kg3 Kg5 36.h4+ Kf5 37.Bd4 a5 38.Bc3 a4 39.Bd4 Ke4
40.Kf2 1/2-1/2
.
[FEN ""]
[Event "1/4"]
[Site "Cm Las Palmas (06)"]
[Date "1971.??.??"]
[Round "6"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Wolfgang Uhlmann"]
[Black "Bent Larsen"]
[ECO "D47"]
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.d4 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4
b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.e4 b4 10.Na4 c5 11.e5 Nd5 12.Nxc5 Nxc5 13.dxc5
Bxc5 14.Bb5+ Ke7 15.O-O Qb6 16.Bd3 h6 17.Qe2 Rhd8 18.Bd2 Kf8
19.Rac1 Rac8 20.Rc2 a5 21.Rfc1 Kg8 22.h3 Ne7 23.Ne1 Bd4
24.Rxc8 Rxc8 25.Rxc8+ Nxc8 26.b3 Ne7 27.Nf3 Bc5 28.Be1 Nf5
29.Kf1 Qc6 30.Bb5 Qc7 31.Bd3 Nd4 32.Nxd4 Bxd4 33.f4 Qc1 34.Qd2
Qa1 35.Qc2 Bc3 36.Qb1 Ba6 0-1
answered Jun 15, 2014 at 13:37
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There is something odd with the variation in the Kasparov quote : 6...Bb7 is illegal. Should it be 6.Bd3 dc4 7.Bc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7!? ?– EvargaloCommented Sep 27, 2021 at 11:08
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3Something happened to the first game. It doesn't show properly on my screen. Commented Sep 27, 2021 at 12:57
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1It is weird because the preview when editing shows both games correctly.– EvargaloCommented Sep 27, 2021 at 14:32
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1@Evargalo That is very strange - I see that as well. Looks like a bug in something to me - but don't ask me what.– Ian BushCommented Sep 27, 2021 at 15:25