Larsen's Opening
One bishop decides this opening: from b2 it stares down the long diagonal at e5 and g7. You play the same four or five moves against almost anything, and most opponents under 1200 have never seen it, so you are out of their preparation on move one.
Spar this openingYour setup
- Bishopb2
- Knightf3 / e2
- Bishopb5 / e2 / d3
- Knightc3 / d2
- Pawnsb3 e3
- CastleO-O
c4 before d4. Challenge the centre from the side with c4, not with d4. A pawn on d4 sits directly in front of your own bishop on the long diagonal and turns the best piece in the opening into a spectator.
Ideas
From b2 it hits e5 and g7. Keep that diagonal clear and everything else follows.
White's other moves exist to support the bishop: e3 holds the centre without blocking it, Nf3 adds a second attacker to e5, and the c4 or f4 break opens the line further. If you ever find yourself wondering what to do, ask what the b2-bishop can see.
d4 blocks your own bishop. Use c4 to hit the centre instead.
The squares in front of the b2-bishop are c3 and d4. Put a pawn on either and the bishop bites on granite. This is the one rule of the opening, and it is the mistake almost everyone makes the first few times they play it.
Bb5 pins the knight that defends e5, then Nf3 and f4 pile on.
Against 1...e5 Black's whole position rests on that pawn. Bb5 pins its defender against the king, Nf3 attacks it a second time, and f4 attacks it with a pawn. You rarely win it outright, but the pressure buys you the centre.
Once you have castled, f4 opens the diagonal your bishop has been waiting on.
After exf4 exf4 the e-file opens and the b2-bishop looks straight through to g7. It is the Bird's Opening idea borrowed into Larsen, and it is the most common way this opening turns into an attack.
No target on e5, so take the square instead: e3, f4, Nf3, Be2, castle.
When Black plays ...d5 there is no e5-pawn to attack, so you occupy the square rather than besiege it. The pawn on f4 stops ...e5 for good, and the b2-bishop still rakes toward the kingside behind it.
Castle, then pick a break: c4 against a big centre, f4 against a solid one.
Larsen is a plans opening, not a memorisation one. Get the bishop to b2, the king to g1 and the knights out, then decide. If Black owns the centre, undermine it with c4. If Black is solid and slow, clamp with f4 and attack on the kingside.
The structure
Traps
The tell: The bishop lands on b2 staring at an undefended pawn, and the temptation is immediate.
Once ...Nc6 is on the board the pawn is defended, and Bxe5 simply loses a bishop for a pawn. The bishop's job is to press on e5 for the whole game, not to trade itself for it. Take on e5 only when genuinely nothing guards it.
The tell: The urge to claim the centre with a pawn, the way you would in almost any other opening.
A pawn on d4 stands directly in front of the b2-bishop. Even after recapturing, you have spent two moves to reach a position where your best piece does nothing. Play e3 and c4 instead and let the bishop keep its diagonal.
The tell: Black defends e5 one more time with ...Bd6 and castles into the position.
The pawn break removes the blocker. After exf4 the e-file is open, the b2-bishop looks through to g7, and your pieces come with tempo. This is the most common way Larsen turns into a kingside attack.
Model games
The whole plan in thirteen moves: bishop to b2, restrain with e3, pin with Bb5, then f4 opens the diagonal and the file.
No pawn on e5 to attack, so you occupy the square. The pawn on f4 stops ...e5 for good and the bishop works behind it.
Both bishops on the long diagonal. Develop normally, break with c4, and trade the bishops only when it wrecks their pawns.
How the coach grades a move
Every move you play gets one of six grades, from the engine’s view of the position, with the book’s verdict taking over when it is harsher. The sentence beside it is always the reason. Tap it for what the move did, why this opening wants it, and whether anything was better.
- Best
- Nothing better was available.
- Good
- Within a few percent of best. Noise at this depth.
- Playable
- A small real gap. The better move is named, play goes on.
- Inaccuracy
- Seven to twelve points of winning chances. The game stops to show you.
- Mistake
- Twelve or more, or a move the book warns against, or a broken order rule.
- Blunder
- Twenty-five or more. Usually material.
Catalogued as A01 in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, the reference index most databases sort by.