Bent Larsen

Jrgen Bent Larsen was a Danish chess Grandmaster and author. Larsen was known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play, and he was the first Western player to pose a serious challenge to the Soviet Unions dominance in chess. He is considered to be the strongest player born in Denmark and the strongest from Scandinavia until the emergence of Magnus Carlsen.

Larsen was born in Tilsted, near Thisted in Denmark and was educated at Aalborg Cathedral School. In January 1942 Larsen contracted a number of childhood diseases. Although none had any permanent effects, it was during this period that Larsen discovered chess. He went on to represent Denmark twice in the World Junior Championship, in 1951 at Birmingham and in 1953 at Copenhagen . He started playing seriously at the age ofwhen he moved to Copenhagen to study Civil Engineering, but he never graduated choosing instead to play chess professionally. He became an International Master at the age ofin 1954, from his bronzemedal performance on board one at the Amsterdam Olympiad. He won his first of six Danish Championships in 1954 repeating this feat in 1955, 1956, 1959, 1963, and 1964.

Source: Wikipedia