Boris Vasilievich Spassky (also Spasski) (Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский)
(born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess player and former world champion.
He was born in Leningrad; his father was the son of a Russian Orthodox priest
and his mother was Jewish. Spassky learned to play chess at the age of five.
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At age 18 he won the World Junior Chess Championship held at Antwerp,
Belgium, and became a grandmaster.
Boris Spassky was considered an all-rounder on the chess board, and his
"universal style" was a distinct advantage in beating many top Grandmasters. For
instance, in his Candidates Final match (the match which determines who will
challenge the reigning world champion for the title) against Mikhail Tal the
legendary tactician (Tbilisi, 1965) Spassky managed to steer play into quiet
positions, avoiding Tal's tactical strength. This led to his first World
Champion match against Tigran Petrosian in 1966. Spassky lost the match with 3
wins against Petrosian's 4 wins, with the two sharing 17 draws. In the next two
years, his playing success again gained the right to challenge Petrosian.
Spassky's flexibility of style was the key to his eventual victory over
Petrosian by two points in the 1969 World Championship—by adopting Petrosian's
negative style.
Boris Spassky's reign as a world champion only lasted for three years, as he
lost to Bobby Fischer of the United
States in 1972 in the "Match of the Century".
The contest took place in Reykjavík, Iceland, at the height of the Cold War and
consequently was seen as symbolic of the political confrontation between the two
superpowers. Fischer won and Spassky returned home to the U.S.S.R. in disgrace.
Spassky continued to play, winning several championships including the 1973
Soviet championship.
In the 1974 Candidates matches, Spassky lost to the up and coming
Anatoly Karpov in Leningrad, +1 -4. Karpov had
publicly acknowledged that Spassky was superior, but after several games, Karpov
garnered enough points to take the match.
Spassky's later years showed a reluctance to totally devote himself to chess. He
relied on his natural talent for the game, and sometimes would rather play a
game of tennis than work hard at the board. The 1972 World Championship and the
1974 Candidates match against Karpov were the pinnacle of his success. Victor
Korchnoi also overtook him. Since 1976, Spassky has been happily settled in
France with his third wife; he became a French citizen in 1978.
In 1992, Fischer, after a 20 year hiatus from chess, re-emerged to arrange a
"Revenge Match of the 20th century" against Spassky in Montenegro and Belgrade—a
re-enactment of the 1972 World Championship. At the time, Spassky was rated
106th in the FIDE rankings, and Fischer didn't appear on the list at all (owing
to his 20 year inactivity). This match was essentially Spassky's last major
challenge. Spassky lost the match with a score of +5 -10 =15.
Play through
Boris Spassky's games