Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing

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

Try our new games table.

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

REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Spassky wins | Spassky loses

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 64 OF 99 ·  Later Kibitzing> Jun-02-11    Petrosianic: Would you tell us if he did? There are stories floating around out there, like Evgeny Gik's anecdote about people walking out after his comment about Russia letting too many big-nosed people into government. If he's a friend of yours, you wouldn't be all that keen to tell us bad stories about him even if you knew any. Jun-02-11    boz: But if Eric said nothing would we interpret his silence as a tacit admission that Boris is an anti-semite? Jun-02-11    bronkenstein: < There is something about chess world champions and anti-semitism....> Quite the opposite , in fact. Jun-02-11    Catfriend: <bronkenstein: < There is something about chess world champions and anti-semitism....> Quite the opposite , in fact.> LOL thanks, I was looking for the best reply :) But maybe you could say something about all the non-Jewish WCs. And Fischer. Except for Kramnik. and Smyslov. And Karpov, for all I know. And Anand, of course. Hmmm a remarkably hard statement to generalize :) Jun-02-11    bronkenstein: The point is clear , no need to nitpick the formulation . BTW who is Kramnik ? ... I remember a gyu that never qualified even for a challenger , and then he beats some other gyu that ...hmm ...what was he...ah , I remember now , he had very good rating @ that point...;) Same mysterious thing happens in the domain of Nobel Prize , Oscar and so on, having the percentages and probability in mind . But that topic smells more like Rogoff anyway. Jun-02-11    Eric Schiller: <Petrosianic> Only partially true. I'll happily dish the dirt in a pub, but the Internet is permanent. Spassky has never forgiven Keene for writing things about him that were true, bu heat of battle moments that Spassky felt should not be immortalized in a book. Jun-03-11    Catfriend: <bronkenstein> I wasn't nitpicking or criticizing in any way at you at all. Jun-03-11    bronkenstein: Ah , sorry , it seems that I didnt pick the best possible expression to say , simply , that there is no need to clarify further when the point is already clear :P Jun-06-11    jessicafischerqueen: Boris Spassky arrives in Iceland to meet Bobby Fischer. <Live footage> of the World Champion as he steps from the airplane and into the playing hall for "game one." That's Nikolai Krogius you can see striding across the field with Spassky. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsJB... Jun-20-11    M.D. Wilson: <Petrosianic: Would you tell us if he did? There are stories floating around out there, like Evgeny Gik's anecdote about people walking out after his comment about Russia letting too many big-nosed people into government. If he's a friend of yours, you wouldn't be all that keen to tell us bad stories about him even if you knew any.> Seems like one can't defend one's friend around people like you. Jul-09-11    Joshka: I know Boris was allowed to smoke during those television games back in 1982, but did he smoke during the 1972 match with Bobby? Bobby being so particular with the way he needed everything set up, I would find it amazing that he allowed Boris to smoke while at the board!?? Any info appreciated, thanks in advance! PS Any new news on the health of Boris? Jul-09-11    polarmis: <Joshka>, Spassky's expected to play in a veteran's tournament in mid-August with Korchnoi, Taimanov and others, so we've got to assume the recovery's going well! http://www.whychess.org/en/node/651 Jul-09-11    Joshka: <polarmis> Ahh wonderful news!! Thanks! Aug-10-11    Everett: Just came across the fact that Portisch advanced over Spassky in their '80 candidates match because, of the two decisive games (one victory each out of 14), Portisch's win came playing black. Anyone know of Spassky's reaction to this decision, and was this tiebreaker known before the beginning of the match? Aug-10-11    Petrosianic: It was known. And the other candidates series had equally silly tiebreakers (in 1974 it was a coin flip). This was the first time one of them was actually used, however. Aug-11-11    alexmagnus: And after all this you have something against rapids and blitz as tiebreakers? :D. At least it's chess. Aug-20-11    swissfed: ¡¥I consider myself to be an idler, too, but the dimensions of Spassky¡¦s laziness were astounding¡¦...said Karpov (page 98)(Karpov on Karpov) Aug-27-11    perfidious: <Petrosianic: ....And the other candidates series had equally silly tiebreakers (in 1974 it was a coin flip). This was the first time one of them was actually used, however.> Then we have Smyslov's advance after the spin of a roulette wheel in the 1983 cycle. Even the National Football League uses coin flip as a last resort after numerous other means, one of which can hardly help but break the tie! Sep-07-11    NARC: I think I have seen an interesting thing in Spassky's second match against Petrosian. Spassky seemed to be willing to simplify to get better endings from 1. e4 openings. A lot of players rather go for further complications after playing 1.e4 Does anybody see the same, or otherwise? Nov-07-11    AnalyzeThis: He showed the same tendency against Fischer. Nov-25-11    kingfu: We need an update on Boris's health. How is he doing? I hope he is doing well. Dec-13-11    Antiochus: Appeal to President Bush from Boris Spassky http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail... Dec-14-11    goldenbear: The only Aquarian world chess champion, and it showed... Jan-30-12    brankat: Happy Birthday Boris!! Jan-30-12    bronkenstein: Best wishes and good health , Boris! PS here`s Spragett`s extensive B-day greeting http://www.google.rs/url?sa=t&rct=j... (don`t be afraid, it has lots of pics!), which may contain some additional info for (way too short) bio of the ex-champ. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 99) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 64 OF 99 ·  Later Kibitzing>

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. Nothing in violation of United States law. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members. No trolling. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers. Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times. See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator. NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific player only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors. All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC