Larsen's Opening — what it means in chess
1.b3, fianchettoing the queen's bishop early.
1.b3, fianchettoing the queen's bishop early.
[[board startfen="rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1" caption="Larsen's Opening: 1.b3, the long diagonal booked on move one. The bishop will watch e5 from b2 all game — hypermodern chess at its most patient, named for the great Dane who made it a weapon." pgn="b3" notes="One pawn is about to reserve a diagonal for the whole game. The most patient first move in serious chess: one pawn step, and the b2 square is reserved for a bishop that will pressure the center's dark heart — e5 above all — for the entire game. Also known as the Nimzo-Larsen Attack, honoring the two players who gave it life: the hypermodern prophet who theorized flank pressure, and the fighting Danish grandmaster who proved it at the elite summit. Black's most principled answer is to occupy the center the bishop covets and dare it to prove the pressure; the opening's whole middlegame flows from that argument."]]
Larsen's Opening — 1.b3, also known as the Nimzo-Larsen Attack — is flank strategy at its most patient: the queen's bishop is booked for b2 before anything else happens, and from there it pressures the central dark squares, e5 above all, for as long as the game lasts. The opening carries two names honestly earned: the hypermodern prophet who theorized attacking the center from the wings, and the great fighting Dane who took the idea to the elite summit and beat world-class opposition with it, giving the move its permanent credibility.
The Endgame Society glossary defines more than 240 chess terms — rules, notation, tactics, strategy, pawn structures, endgames, and openings — in language a beginner can act on rather than dictionary shorthand.