Danish grandmaster Bent Larsen and his fans had high hopes for Larsen's performance at the Interzonal Tournament, Portorož, in 1958.
The Dane was in excellent form - at the 1956 Moscow Olympics, he scored 78,57% of points on the first board, shared first place in the 1957 tournament, third and fourth in the Dublin tournament that same year, and won the 1958 Mar del Plata tournament ahead of Lombardi and Pano.
He arrived in Portorož fresh, ready to fight, and optimistic. But the game simply "didn't work". He suffered defeat after defeat - eventually eight defeats out of twenty rounds, recording five wins and seven draws to only take 16th place, far below his expectations and capabilities. It was also one of the most unsuccessful tournaments in the brilliant career of the Danish grandmaster.
From the interzonal tournament, Portorož 1958, we report one of Larsen's eight painful defeats - inflicted by Russian grandmaster Yuri Averbakh.
SICILIAN DEFENSE
AVERBAH - LARSEN
PORTOROZ, 1958.
COMMENTS: VM P.TRIFUNOVIĆ
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.D4 cd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 f3 0-0. 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 Be6
A move that is rarely used. Although it has given quite good results in practice, it is still not recommended, because it gives a bishop pair and doubles the pawns, which increases White's chances in the endgame.
10.Kb1
If immediately 10.Nxe6 fe6 11.Bc4, then Qc8! and on 12. Bxh6 13.Qxh6 Nd8, then on 14.Be2 Qc5 15.h4 Sh5, with the threat of Rf4 and Nf7 to capture the white queen, and on 14.Bb3 Qc5 15.g4 Nd7 and Black has a promising play on the dark squares. The move in the game is more precise.
10..Da5?
A better continuation is Rc8, as in the game Petrosyan - Pano, Candidates Tournament, Amsterdam, 1956, in which White did not gain an advantage after 14.g4 Qa5 15.a3 Nd7.
11.Nxe6
This defeats Black's Q5 move.
11..fe6 12.Lc4 Sd8
Kf7 is dangerous because of the penetration of the white f-pawn, f3-f4-f5.
13. Sd5!
With a simple play, White moves into a promising endgame.
13..Dxd2 14.Sxf6+ Lxf6 Txd2 Le5?
The idea of exchanging the bishop on Bf4 is weak, because White does not allow it, so this is a waste of time. The correct plan was Kg7 and then e6-e5, to allow the knight to enter the game.
16.Td3! Tc6 17.Lb3 b6 18.Ld2
He is preparing a pawn attack on the kingside (g3,f4 and h4), which will be even more successful due to the poor position of Be5.
18…Kg7 19.g3 Bf6 20.h4 h6
Otherwise, White would open the lines with 21.h5.
21.Tf1
Superfluous preparation. Immediately 21.f4 was stronger, because immediately after that 22.g4 threatens, as it did later in the game.
21..Rc7 22.f4 h5 23.Rdf3 Nc6 24.c3 e5 (the pawn) 25.f5 Na5 26.Bd5 Nc4 27.Bc1 b5.
28.g4!
White opens lines for his rooks to penetrate Black's sensitive spot g6. Black has no defense.
28..hg4
After Bxh4 29.g5 the black bishop is captured.
29.Rg3 Th8 30.Rxg4 Rxh4 31.Rxg6+ Kh7 32.Bg8+ Kh8 33.Be6 Nb6
And after Kh7 34.Rfg1 with 35.Bg8+, the game would continue as in the previous game.
34.Rh6+ Rxh6 35.Rxh6 Rc4
There is no other way out of the threat of 36.Rh1 with checkmate, so this is just an easier death.
36.Lxc4
A checkmate attempt with 36.Rh1 would be thwarted after 36…Rxe4 37. Bf8+ Rh4.
36..Sxc4 37.b3 Sa5 38.Le3 Sc6 39.Tg1 a5 40.a3 Kh7 41.Kc2 a4 42.b4 Sd8 43.Td1 - Crni predaje.
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