Danish grandmaster Bent Larsen died September 9th 2010 in Buenos Aires, Argentina at the age of 75. Larsen won the Danish championship six times and was a candidate for the World Championship four times. During the 1960s and early 1970s he was a rival with Bobby Fischer for the role as the best player in the West, and he played on first board ahead of Fischer in the USSR vs. the Rest of the World match in 1970. He suffered a disastrous 0-6 defeat to Fischer in their Candidates Match in Denver, Colorado in 1971. Larsen played in a few tournaments in New England during that time period. He won the 1970 U.S. Open, which was held in Boston. He also won the Merrimack Grand Prix, which was also the New England Open, in Salem N.H. in 1969, and tied with GM Pal Benko for first at the Merrimack Grand Prix in 1968. Larsen won the following game against IM-to-be Norman Weinstein, who won the Massachusetts state championship in 1972 and the U.S. Open in 1973.

White: Weinstein, Norman
Black: Larsen, Bent
[B89] Sicilian Defense: Velimirovic Attack
U.S. Open Boston, Mass., 1970

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4
e6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qe2 a6 9.0-0-0 Qc7 10.Bb3 b5 11.g4
Na5 12.g5 Nxb3+ 13.axb3 Nd7 14.h4 Bb7 15.f3 b4 16.Na4
Nc5 17.Qf2 Rc8 18.Kb1 Nxa4 19.bxa4 d5 20.exd5
Bxd5 21.Nf5 0-0 22.Nxe7+ Qxe7 23.b3 Rc3 24.Rh3
Rfc8 25.Rd2 Qc7 26.Rh1 Bxb3 27.Rc1 Ba2+ 0-1