Fischer, Kasparov, Carlsen. And Larsen!

My DDH (dear Danish husband) is an avid reader and book collector.  Though – glory, glory, hallelujah – since the advent of the Kindle, the avalanche of books coming into the house is finally beginning to let up!  But at bedtime his favourite reading matter is…chess books.  Not books about chess.  Books detailing chess games:

1. e4 c6 2. Sf3 d5 3. Sc3 Lg4 4. h3 Lxf3 5. Dxf3 Sf6 6. d3 e6 7. a3 Lc5 8. Le2 0-0 9. 0-0 Sbd7 10. Dg3 Ld4 11. Lh6 S38 etc, etc, etc…

Yep.  Weird.

Now, I know nothing about chess apart from the ‘big names’: Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov, Magnus Carlsen.  Magnus, 23 years old and current World Champion.  The little Norwegian boy who became a Grandmaster at 13 and models clothes for G Star.  Yep, a real chess Boy Wonder.  But I always try and buy a good chess book for DDH’s birthday and this year the hunt was easy peasy.  You see, the biography of Bent Larsen just came out…

Who he?  Denmark’s very own Chess Wonder!  Scandinavia’s most famous chess player (until Little Magnus came along).  Bent Larsen was the first Westerner to take on the heavyweights from the Soviet Union.  A man whose private life seems to be just as interesting as the impulsive chess he played.  “The best chess player, never to become World Champion.”  Bent Larsen was also a great teacher and author (and translated chess books from Russian).  His own “Find the Plan” was the first chess book Little Magnus Carlsen ever read…  A co-incidence?  I think not! 🙂

“Larsen” is a mix of chess games, anecdotes, press cuttings and family photos.  The whole caboodle.  At 110 pages and 1.5 kilos, it’s a bit of a heavyweight itself… 

And guess what?  This is only Bind I (Volume One)!  Volumes Two and Three are still in progress.  (Hooray – that’s hubby’s birthday presents sorted for 2015 and 2017!)

The book is only available in Danish.  But, hey, even if you don’t speak Danish, you chess nerds will – selvfølgelig – still be able to enjoy the detailed chess games.

+ + !

Diane 🙂