Bent Larsen Inspirational Quotes (9)

Lack of patience is probably the most common reason for losing a game, or drawing games that should have been won.

Among top grandmasters the Dutch is a rare defense, which is good reason to play it! It has not been studied very deeply by many opponents, and theory, based on a small number of 'reliable' games, must be rather unreliable.

The books say that it is not so serious to lose time in a closed position I am lucky, since these comments have not harmed me too much.

I often play a move I know how to refute.

All chess masters have on occasion played a magnificent game and then lost it by a stupid mistake, perhaps in time pressure and it may perhaps seem unjust that all their beautiful ideas get no other recognition than a zero on the tournament table.

A gambit never becomes sheer routine as long as you fear you may lose the king and pawn ending!

In my opinion the Open variation is absolutely correct - and more interesting than the Closed.

Chess is my profession. I am my own boss I am free. I like literature and music, classical especially. I am in fact quite normal I have a Bohemian profession without being myself a Bohemian. I am neither a conformist nor a great revolutionary.

Nimzovitch became then for me more or less the author of the only book which could help me get away from these Euwe books, which, I admit, are very good for the ordinary club player. But once you've reached a certain strength you get the impression that everything that Euwe writes is a lie.