|
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 48 OF 99 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
| Jul-16-09 | | swissfed: [Chess Drawing]
1.Former World Chess Champion Boris Spassky, beaten by Bobby Fischer in the legendary Match of the Century
in Reykjavik 1972, celebrates his 70th birthday.
http://www.oliverschopf.com/html/e_... |
|
| Aug-07-09 | | parisattack: < Tripler: ... Didn't Spassky say recently that he wished he had been playing in the C19th? It's well known that Spassky's results were dire for a champion after 1969> True. Aside from the 1966 match with Petrosian, Spassky's best chess (Chessmetrics to the contrary) seemed to be 1965-1969. |
|
Aug-10-09
 | | kamalakanta: <Tripler:> <It's well known that Spassky's results were dire for a champion after 1969 - in the 60s he was probably the best player (apart from the 1966 loss to Petrosian) - but he was not a Party Member and is really an old fashioned Russian monarchist who, er, lives in France...> I have read somewhere that Spassky said that the years in which he was World Champion were the worst years of his life. He is writing an autobiography. I hope he explains to us what he means by that statement. |
|
| Aug-11-09 | | WhiteRook48: maybe it was about Russian rule |
|
| Aug-14-09 | | patzer of patzers: <kamalakanta>: Here are two Spassky quotes from the <unsourced> section of <Wiki>quote (that is my disclaimer): "After I won the title, I was confronted with the real world. People do not behave naturally anymore - hypocrisy is everywhere." "In my country, at that time, being a champion of chess was like being a King. At that time I was a King … and when you are King you feel a lot of responsibility, but there is nobody there to help you." He also apparently said that he wanted never to be champion again. |
|
Aug-15-09
| | kamalakanta: <patzer of patzers> <kamalakanta>: <Here are two Spassky quotes from the <unsourced> section of <Wiki>quote (that is my disclaimer):> <"After I won the title, I was confronted with the real world. People do not behave naturally anymore - hypocrisy is everywhere."> <"In my country, at that time, being a champion of chess was like being a King. At that time I was a King … and when you are King you feel a lot of responsibility, but there is nobody there to help you."> <He also apparently said that he wanted never to be champion again.> It's funny...in the video interview with Susan Polgar at the Olympics last year, he showed he could be ironic with a totally straight face, when he said something like: "...you know, I did not know it, but Morozevich was the author of the Merano variation...". Of course, he was being ironic. The Meran variation was pioneered by Rubinstein in Meran, 1924, and it takes its name from that tournament. So when he says that he is a monarchist, I do not quite believe him. |
|
| Aug-19-09 | | patzer of patzers: Um...I think I'll let you handle all of that. I don't really know much about this conversation, just saw you talk about Spassky's unhappiness about being World Champion and thought I'd use some quotes from him. |
|
| Sep-29-09 | | piroflip: I asked this question a while back but nobody seemed to know the answer.
Time to try again.
Do any Boris fans here know what became of the stunning Larrisa? |
|
| Sep-29-09 | | Petrosianic: <Do any Boris fans here know what became of the stunning Larrisa?> She became less stunning. |
|
| Sep-30-09 | | Capabal: Spassky strikes one as a gentleman, smooth, well-mannered, but with a certain wry wit, and not prone to excessive work or to obsessive endeavors. He practices the truest gentleman games available: chess and tennis, with proper detachment and never losing sight of the fact they are games, leasure activities. He may not have been as cavalier regarding hard work as Capablanca, but along similar lines. Karpov once wrote the following about Spassky:
“I consider myself to be an idler, too, but the dimensions of Spassky’s laziness were astounding”
(Karpov on Karpov: ‘Memoirs of a Chess World Champion’, page 98) No wonder he did not like the pressure of being champion. Of all the world champions, the hardest working ones (in chronological order) must be: Alekhine, Fischer, Kasparov |
|
| Oct-30-09 | | waustad: The match with Korchnoi could be fun. It's a shame that Smyslov may be a bit too old to get in on these. |
|
| Nov-01-09 | | Everett: Well, at least Alekhine and Kasparov did some work AFTER becoming champion. |
|
| Nov-08-09 | | drnooo: What a guy, Spassky. When people start to say how Fischer overwhelmed him, it was more his antics than talent: at least for me. Until that year Fischer never had the guys number. I have always had the feeling that he just, Spassky that is, just pushed his chips in and walked away from the game, the money not being enough to endure the antics of whatever Fischer had become. A high level of disgust, Boris had, even though I am sure he liked Fischer, felt grateful for the money etc, but jeez, you cannot say the things he did about the flood of hypocrisy that rushed in on him after the crown. Odd how many have said the same thing after winning it by either word or deed. Lasker needed it for the gold, period. Good reason. Capa more or less frittered it away. Alekhine, flat drank it away with Euwe. Botvinnik certainly could not hold onto it consistently, and wuld have less without the return match clause. Tal, well, even healthy might have kept it longer, but it never seemed to mean much to him, you had the feeling that he would just as soon be playing all night blitz in some Moscow coffee house as with the top crew, Petrosian himself said he lost the desire. Then came the Ks: they were true maniacs, the first two anyway, the only ones since Lasker and Alekhine that fought tooth and toenail to hang onto it. That's quite a list of ho humness about a world championship once its won. |
|
| Nov-08-09 | | drnooo: In a nutshell: Fischer, hated to lose even more than he wanted to win. Spassky (ultimately) didn't want to win.
How could the result have been otherwise in 72.
As for the rematch in Yogoslavia. Well Steve Martin could have come out during adjournments for those games and done his King Tut number. Anyone who took those games seriously, other than Fischer of course, should have had their head examined. |
|
| Dec-02-09 | | M.D. Wilson: After winning in 1972, Fischer said every player he ever beat crumbled at some point, every player except Spassky. He assumed Spassky would be his opponent in 1975, but Karpov had other ideas. |
|
| Dec-07-09 | | Tripler: Yes, Spassky was lazy; even lazier after he won the title. I wonder if Petrosian had beaten him again in 1969
(by a point) - Spassky would've met Fischer in the Candidates circa 1971.
I think Spassky would've killed him.
As for Larissa (his second wife, at the time of the match v. Fischer) - I read she was an engineer; I think they divorced in the late 70s. (Of his first wife, Spassky said "We became like bishops of opposite colours" - one can imagine the scene: "Frankly darling, you're making me feel like an isolated pawn; we've become, indeed, like bishops of opposite colours; when speaking to you I always feel as if I were losing by one tempo" etc. etc.)
I can't remember where I read this (it might've been Korchnoi, I don't know)
but the French Ambassador to Russia is supposed to have asked Brezhnev's permission for Spassky to marry his third wife in France. (I hope that's true.) Back to chess - I think Fischer would've come out to play had Spassky (or even Korchnoi) been his challenger in 1975 - they were known quantities;
I think the games in the Karpov-Spassky match freaked him out. We'll never know. Still, would've been more interesting than the 11 move draw he made with President Marcos in 1973 (Fischer's sole game as world champion.) |
|
| Dec-08-09 | | M.D. Wilson: I'm not sure if Fischer would have played Spassky or Korchnoi in 1975, if Karpov had not prevailed in the Candidates. I just think Fischer didn't want to risk anything. If he wanted to play, he could have. Some have argued that Fischer had a pathological fear of losing, so I guess that, along with mental instability and uncertainty, made any match, against any opponent, less likely. The prospect of facing the unknown Karpov should not be underestimated, either. |
|
| Dec-18-09 | | redwhitechess: Been a quite week but nobody mentioned Spassky - Korchnoi match? Korchnoi just win first game. http://chess-rk.ru/ |
|
| Dec-18-09 | | talisman: THANK YOU! <redwhitechess>. |
|
Dec-18-09
 | | HeMateMe: We have a chess match! |
|
| Dec-19-09 | | kurtrichards: Match in Elista
Korchnoi, V. - Spassky, B.
Position after 40. ... Rc2
click for larger view
41. Nf5 Kh8
42. Ne3 Rd2
43. Nc4 Rc2
44. Nxb2 h5
45. Nd3 Nh6
46. Rb2 Rc7
47. Rb1 1-0 |
|
| Dec-19-09 | | mojonera: will be rate this match ? korchnoi's rating is 2567 and spassky 2548 . |
|
| Dec-19-09 | | parisattack: <M.D. Wilson: I'm not sure if Fischer would have played Spassky or Korchnoi in 1975, if Karpov had not prevailed in the Candidates. I just think Fischer didn't want to risk anything. If he wanted to play, he could have. Some have argued that Fischer had a pathological fear of losing, so I guess that, along with mental instability and uncertainty, made any match, against any opponent, less likely. The prospect of facing the unknown Karpov should not be underestimated, either.> Excellent assessment; I agree. The operative phrase here is 'mental instability' - and the fact he had no more mountains to climb, as mentioned by Kasparov. I think the drive for the title kept him from completely losing it mentally - and after having achieved that, the wheels just came flying off. |
|
Dec-19-09
| | HeMateMe: Do Korchnoi and Spassky (especially Boris) actually play enough games each year for their ratings to truly reflect their abilities? |
|
| Dec-20-09 | | redwhitechess: Korchnoi this year play in Staunton Memorial, swiss championship, many chess teams ,and recently beat some girls etc. I think he played as many as active GM, say like Topalov. |
|
 |
|
|
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 48 OF 99 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
Kibitzing
