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Boris Spassky

BORIS SPASSKY (born Jan-30-1937, died Feb-27-2025, 88 years old) Russia PRONUNCIATION: [what is this?] Boris Vasilievich Spassky was born in Leningrad, USSR. As a child, in 1943, he escaped from the siege of the city by German forces. Spassky first attracted international attention by finishing equal fourth at Bucharest (1953), celebrating his sixteenth birthday during the event. (Alexander Tolush won, his finest career achievement.) In 1955 Spassky won the World Junior Chess Championship. Spassky tied for third at the USSR Championship (1955) with World Champion Botvinnik, future champion Tigran Petrosian, and Georgy Ilivitsky, half a point behind Smyslov and Geller, who tied for first. Spassky's performance at the Gothenburg Interzonal (1955) made him, up to that date, both the youngest grandmaster ever, and the youngest ever to qualify for the Candidates tournament. Smyslov won the Amsterdam Candidates (1956). In 1956, Spassky tied with Mark Taimanov and Yuri Averbakh for first place at the USSR Championship (1956). He fell ill and finished last among the three players in the playoff. Many people expected Spassky to be world champion before his 25th birthday, but his fifth place in the Soviet Championship of 1958 was not enough to qualify him for the Portoroz Interzonal. This was due to a last-round loss to Mikhail Tal (Spassky vs Tal, 1958), which shook him deeply. After winning one of the four semi-finals by finishing equal first with Rashid Nezhmetdinov Leningrad champion of 1959 [rusbase-1] and 1961 [rusbase-2] and finally Soviet Champion in 1961 [rusbase-3]. Winner of the Russian Zonal [rusbase-4]. Spassky shared the first place with Smyslov and Bent Larsen at Amsterdam 1964 http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/646.... In 1965 he eliminated Paul Keres, Efim Geller and Mikhail Tal. He faced Tigran Petrosian in the Petrosian - Spassky World Championship Match (1966), but narrowly lost. As the losing player in the title match, Spassky automatically qualified for the next Candidates cycle, where he overcame Geller, Larsen and Korchnoi. He again faced Petrosian in the 1969 World Championship, and this time prevailed. Spassky's style of play can be described best as lively and adaptable; this produced many brilliant victories. A position based on his victory in 1960 against David Bronstein was used in the James Bond movie, From Russia With Love. His polite, friendly disposition and entertaining games made him one of the most popular world champions. In the West, his tournament victory at Santa Monica 1966 is the most remembered http://www.worldchesslinks.net/ezqa.... In 1972, Spassky was challenged by Robert James Fischer for the World Championship; Spassky lost, 12½-8½, ending the reign of nearly 25-year Soviet hegemony over the World Championship. In the next year Spassky won the Soviet Championship ahead of many world-class grandmasters, [rusbase-5], including Anatoly Karpov. In the next series of Candidates matches, Spassky defeated Robert Byrne, but lost to Karpov in their 1974 semifinal match. In 1977 he lost the Candidates final to Viktor Korchnoi, after eliminating Vlastimil Hort and Lajos Portisch. In 1992, Spassky played a rematch with Fischer for US $5 million and lost once again, 10 to 5 (with 15 draws). Spassky died in Moscow on February 27, 2025. Wikipedia article: Boris Spassky https://nsn.fm/sport/umer-10-i-chem... Last updated: 2025-02-28 17:12:50

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page 1 of 100; games 1-25 of 2,498  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Korchnoi vs Spassky 1-0 12 1948 Leningrad B71 Sicilian, Dragon, Levenfish Variation 2. Spassky vs Rodgaisky 0-1 8 1948 URS B45 Sicilian, Taimanov 3. Spassky vs Shman 1-0 35 1948 Trud Ch D37 Queen's Gambit Declined 4. Smyslov vs Spassky 1-0 21 1948 Simul B76 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack 5. Spassky vs A Nikitin   ½-½ 20 1949 Ch URS (team) (juniors) A18 English, Mikenas-Carls 6. Korchnoi vs Spassky 0-1 51 1949 Leningrad Junior Championship B71 Sicilian, Dragon, Levenfish Variation 7. V Liavdansky vs Spassky 0-1 51 1949 Leningrad Junior Championship B23 Sicilian, Closed 8. Spassky vs S Avtonomov 1-0 21 1949 Leningrad Junior Championship D28 Queen's Gambit Accepted, Classical 9. Spassky vs A Vilup 1-0 27 1949 Leningrad Junior Championship D30 Queen's Gambit Declined 10. V P Zakharov vs Spassky   1-0 55 1949 Leningrad Junior Championship B74 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical 11. Spassky vs Polugaevsky   ½-½ 15 1950 USSR Junior Team Championship D31 Queen's Gambit Declined 12. M Aizenshtadt vs Spassky 0-1 33 1951 Chigorin Memorial qual-12 D50 Queen's Gambit Declined 13. Y Gusev vs Spassky 0-1 24 1951 URS-ch qf A00 Uncommon Opening 14. Y Estrin vs Spassky 0-1 19 1951 URS-ch qf C44 King's Pawn Game 15. G Chepukaitis vs Spassky 0-1 35 1952 Minsk C31 King's Gambit Declined, Falkbeer Counter Gambit 16. Korchnoi vs Spassky 0-1 47 1952 Leningrad Championship D10 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 17. Levenfish vs Spassky ½-½ 32 1952 Leningrad Championship D71 Neo-Grunfeld 18. Furman vs Spassky 0-1 36 1952 Leningrad Championship D43 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 19. Spassky vs J Yuchtman 1-0 28 1952 URS-chT Juniors E28 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch Variation 20. Taimanov vs Spassky ½-½ 59 1952 Leningrad Championship D45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 21. N Kopilov vs Spassky   0-1 38 1952 Leningrad Championship D44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 22. N Vedenski vs Spassky   0-1 38 1952 Leningrad Championship D22 Queen's Gambit Accepted 23. B Vladimirov vs Spassky 0-1 27 1953 Leningrad D25 Queen's Gambit Accepted 24. Spassky vs Smyslov 1-0 35 1953 Bucharest E31 Nimzo-Indian, Leningrad, Main line 25. Petrosian vs Spassky ½-½ 15 1953 Bucharest D10 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav  page 1 of 100; games 1-25 of 2,498

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 98 OF 99 ·  Later Kibitzing> Mar-01-25    Nosnibor: One of my favourite players of all time. R.I.P. dear Boris. Mar-01-25    offramp: Today my street is having a Spassky Day. Everyone dresses like Spassky, And wear Boris masks (or masks like Dick Shawn) And wear sun visors with a cyclist's casquet. Street food like <khash>, <Indigirka>, puffed corn. And neighbours can visit our houses. They all have a pass-key. I am going to sing the Spassky song, in Smyslov's baritone! A whole street full of well-wishers! Waving pics of Spassky, and some of Fischer's. Mar-01-25    offramp: <User: Sally Simpson> The one against Bronstein is truly a great game. There is a tiny element of luck and that shows what chess is like. Mar-01-25    stone free or die: From <Sally>'s chess.com link comes this flavorful tidbit: <<Weren't you given a crown as a world champion?> In our time, they gave us a medal and a laurel wreath. The bay leaves were immediately given away to wives. <For soup?> Yes. The wreath lasted for long. We discussed that with Botvinnik. He also used his first wreath for soups, but he kept the second one. He grew older and wiser!> Mar-01-25    offramp: Fischer was given a special award; a trophy made from <ice>. Where is it now? Mar-01-25    gezafan: Spassky was a great player! We can all learn from his games, especially from his heyday in the 1960s. RIP Boris Spassky. Mar-01-25    williscreek: One of my favorite Spassky games is this one: Spassky vs Bronstein, 1960 He has several fun King's Gambit gambit games: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che... Mar-01-25    Diocletian: Beside his great accomplishments in achieving the world title, I remember him best for his great sportsmanship and magnanimity in the 1972 championship match. He was ever the gentleman in an often scrappy arena. Mar-02-25    visayanbraindoctor: Boris Spassky was not only the gentleman's gentleman, he was IMO in the lineage of Alekhine and Keres in his facility to maintain the initiative and attack, while maintaining sound play. RIP Boris. You will be remembered forever. Mar-02-25    visayanbraindoctor: After losing to Fischer, Spassky proved he was not a has-been by winning the USSR Championship (1973). His games here are a model for initiative and attack. Mar-02-25    perfidious: The 1973 edition of that event was one of the toughest of a series which was never a free ride. Spassky had numerous fine results, and that was one of the better ones. Mar-02-25    visayanbraindoctor: <perfidious: The 1973 edition of that event was one of the toughest of a series which was never a free ride. Spassky had numerous fine results, and that was one of the better ones.> Quite true. Mar-02-25    Sally Simpson: In that link I gave above Boris mentions among his chess heroes is Paul Morphy. I suspect if Boris saw this stamp dedicated to him and mixing him up with Morphy he would have been quite amused. Picture here along with other stamps dedicated to chess players at Edward Winter's site; http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... Mar-02-25    stone free or die: <Though not much was known about him in the West, the genial, dapper, ever-courteous Spassky could not have presented a greater contrast. The London Sunday Times described him as ’the more benign type of Soviet bureaucrat.” However, behind the Soviet monolith, his peers saw him variously as artist, joker, nihilist–a free spirit. Most significantly, they regarded him as an un-Soviet man (an epithet he cheerfully accepted). A Russian nationalist, he was a headache for the authorities in his refusal to toe the party line and honor his political role as a Soviet world champion.> David Edmounds (BBC) https://websites.umich.edu/~mjfello... Mar-03-25    ewan14: IIRC two of Boris' other chess heroes were Paul Keres and Leonid Stein , both of whom gave him tough games One of Boris' favourite games was a loss against Keres in their 1965 Candidates match Mar-04-25    Chessinfinite: Rest In Peace. A great player and legend of Chess. Mar-04-25    stone free or die: Has anyone mentioned this game of Spassky's, when he was just 18 years old? Spassky vs Taimanov, 1955 (USSR-ch 1955) <White to move after 14...g5> click for larger view . Mar-15-25    6t4addict: RIP RIP RIP RIP RIP RIP RIP RIP RIP BORIS SPASSKY --- THE WIZARD OF ICE Note: "The Wizard of Ice" is a title from the James Bond novel "From Russia With Love". The chapter portrays a Russian Grandmaster pursuing his love for chess in defiance of the Soviet State Authority - at considerable risk of loss/injury to himself. The character bears a striking resemblance to the late Mr. Boris Spassky, who, endured hardships while pursuing his love for the royal game in d efiance of the Kremllin Stranglehold. Mar-15-25    Dionysius1: I hope there'll be a commemoration tournament announced soon. In terms of which he would approve. Mar-16-25    HeMateMe: Didn't Spassky live in Paris for years, after divorcing himself from USSR chess? Maybe France could put up a tournament. Good lord, if they're willing to pay Killian Mboppe $40M/yr to play club football in France surely there's a few hundred thousand euros available to sponsor a GM chess tournament? Europeans are obsessed with football; it's not healthy. Apr-23-25    offramp: Spassky had a tough journey to become World Champion. Beating Petrosian was hard! Spassky won Amsterdam Interzonal (1964) Then came Spassky - Keres Candidates Quarterfinal (1965) Spassky - Geller Candidates Semifinal (1965) Spassky - Tal Candidates Final (1965) followed by the Petrosian - Spassky World Championship Match (1966). Spassky had another go... Spassky - Geller Candidates Quarterfinal (1968) Spassky - Larsen Candidates Semifinal (1968) Spassky - Korchnoi Candidates Final (1968) Spassky went on to Spassky - Korchnoi Candidates Final (1968) where he beat Petrosian and therefore became World Champion. What a long, hard journey! Apr-23-25    Muttley101: Spassky's journey to become world champion didn't start with Amsterdam. The earlier years were important too: Spassky played in the Amsterdam Candidates' tournament at the age of 19 in 1956. But he repeatedly had to endure failing to progress in either of the next two the world championship cycles, being in the hardest zone from which to qualify of course. Tough journey indeed. Stein's fate was even more tragic- Stein never even became a candidate, in part due to the nonsensical "only 3 players from one country" rule. As Bronstein said, if the number of strong players is a problem, then increase the number of players who can play in the candidates matches from 8 to 16 instead of limiting the number of players from one country. Stein and Bronstein were both penalised by this. Apr-23-25    Sally Simpson: <Hi Muttley> I think we can say Spassky took his first step on the slippery ladder to the title back in 1955 in the USSR Championship (1955) when he finished 2nd= to qualify for the Gothenburg Interzonal (1955) which in turn took him to the Amsterdam Candidates (1956) The list of players and how they qualified for the 1955 Gothenburg Interzonal https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zo... Apr-23-25    perfidious: Unfortunately for Spassky, some goo was applied to certain rungs of that ladder at Riga 1958, then he fell into official disfavour by losing a critical game to Lombardy in Leningrad 1960 before winning the tournament of seven to book his table for Amsterdam Interzonal (1964). Apr-23-25    Petrosianic: <Unfortunately for Spassky, some goo was applied to certain rungs of that ladder at Riga 1958> Yes, but to be clear, he applied that goo himself by unnecessarily losing that game to Tal. Had he drawn it as he easily could have, he'd have been in a tie with Averbakh for that last qualifying position. Not sure what would have happened then, but he'd probably have won on Sonnenborn if they used that. Disfavor or no, he was in the next Zonal, in 1961, and again failed to qualify. Maybe he just wasn't ready yet, and it was his qualification in 1955 that was the oddball result (although he did do credibly at Amsterdam). 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