ANew York Times, New York, New York, Thursday, June 01, 1972 - Page 40
Chess: Renewed Study of Openings Is Leading to New Lines
The systematic study of the openings has recently experienced a real boom, and such analysis has become more and more a part of the routine of every serious chess player. No longer can even a strong player ignorant of the latest developments in the openings expect to do well against weaker opponents more “booked up” than he.
New Systems Result
The new boom in chess analysis, however, has produced not only improvements on even the 25th moves of various, obscure sub-variations, but also whole new systems—material that is as fresh as if the game of chess had been invented only yesterday. With serious tournament play dating from the middle of the last century, it seems inconceivable that a whole new opening could be developed in recent times, but it is so.
Larsen's Opening, named after the Danish grandmaster and now the subject of a new monograph by the American master, Andy Soltis, is not entirely without roots.
The move 1. P-QN3 does often lead back into well explored paths; many of its patterns are familiar from other openings—Reti's, Bird's, the Queen's Indian Reversed. Soltis points out that the opening of the game between Bobby Fischer and Filip, presented below, had already been played up to the 10th move in a match between Flohr and Stoltz in 1931.
What Larsen had done, of course, was to analyze the move and its consequences more extensively than any one else and, more importantly, had played it into respectability. In chess there is nothing like success to make others take notice, and it was Larsen's numerous victories with 1. P-QN3 that compelled others to examine it and eventually take it up. By now it has become part of the routine, and even some of the most conservative players try it occasionally. What Soltis has done in his monograph ($2.40, published by Chess Digest magazine, P0 Box 21225, Dallas, Tex. 75211) is, to classify the patterns that can evolve after 1. P-QN3, relate them to each other and present the necessary material in clear form.
The move 1. P-QN3 really achieved status in 1970, when Fischer started to play it. His victory over Filip was scored in the interzonal at Palma de Mallorca, Spain, in that year.
Larsen's victory, over the young British star Raymond Keene also came at a tournament in Mallorca, during a smaller, less important one about a year later.
Robert James Fischer vs Miroslav Filip
Palma de Mallorca Interzonal (1970), Palma de Mallorca ESP, rd 4, Nov-13
Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Classical Variation (A01) 1-0
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044299
Bent Larsen vs Raymond Keene
Palma de Mallorca (1971), Palma ESP, rd 3, Dec-01
Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Classical Variation (A01) 1-0
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1071320
