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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 79 OF 99 ·  Later Kibitzing> Sep-15-12    Conrad93: Ivanchuk: Classical games: Garry Kasparov beat Vassily Ivanchuk 12 to 4, with 23 draws. Adams: Classical games: Garry Kasparov beat Michael Adams 10 to 0, with 8 draws. Anand: Classical games: Garry Kasparov beat Viswanathan Anand 16 to 6, with 32 draws. Kramnik: Classical games: Vladimir Kramnik beat Garry Kasparov 5 to 4, with 40 draws. Kramnik was the only real competition for Kasparov. Sep-15-12    Conrad93: Bronstein tied during the World Championship Match. Barely dominating. The rule should be that a draw leads to a win for the opponent, not the Champion. A World Champion should be expected to have a clear win over his opposition. Sep-15-12    Everett: <Conrad93> you claim you are here to learn, so says your bio. May I suggest: stop posting and read the above posts. There is more than enough information for you to learn a thing or two. Your cut and paste of all those numbers was wasted time. Everyone here has those stats in their heads after years on this site by now. You may not know this, but you are kibitzing with people who have been writing about this topic for years and years. Reread what I said about Bronstein. The numbers further support my view. He never "dominated." I bid everyone adieu, I'm off for some grub and perhaps a pint. Be well, good night, and stop kibitzing and play some chess, for crying out loud! ;-) Sep-15-12    Shams: I think I read one or two of <Conrad>'s posts before putting him on ignore. I'm amazed he still retains a readership. As trolls measure things, that must count as success, so congratulations are in order! Perhaps we should honor him in this year's site awards? Sep-15-12    SimonWebbsTiger: Some trolls are funny since it allows fans of our game to recall stories and brilliance. <I told you that Adams and Ivanchuk are weak players.> (Conrad.) Mickey was once 27-five. He has been known, ever since childhood, as a guy who knows where to put his pieces. And Chucky? Hopeless guy. Qg7 against Shirov and Qxe6 versus Karjakin are flukes. Just like that win at Linares versus Kasparov. Apropos Garry, he rather liked f5 against Wang Hoa and the following play at the Istanbul 2012 OL Sep-16-12    HeMateMe: <The rule should be that a draw leads to a win for the opponent, not the Champion. > Not when the world champion's country owns FIDE (pronounced fi-DAY). Sep-16-12    Conrad93: Let's look at the results for Micheal Adams: Classical games: Vladimir Kramnik beat Michael Adams 7 to 4, with 23 draws Classical games: Garry Kasparov beat Michael Adams 10 to 0, with 8 draws. Classical games: Magnus Carlsen beat Michael Adams 6 to 1, with 4 draws. Classical games: Nigel Short tied Michael Adams 4 to 4, with 13 draws. Classical games: Levon Aronian beat Michael Adams 2 to 0, with 7 draws. Classical games: Sergey Karjakin beat Michael Adams 3 to 0, with 1 draw. Classical games: Viswanathan Anand beat Michael Adams 17 to 4, with 34 draws. I rest my case. Sep-16-12    parmetd: I believe the saying goes something like this: There are liars, damned liars and statisticians. If you are looking only at the results for ad-hoc analysis then you are truly missing the fine point. These are fine players but the numbers shakeout the way they do. Fine might be the understatement of the century. Sep-16-12    Conrad93: The result reflect ability only when the gap between the wins and loses is very wide. Sep-16-12    Jim Bartle: Why didn't you include Botvinnik and Fine, conrad93? Sep-16-12    Conrad93: For example: Classical games: Samuel Reshevsky beat Larry Melvyn Evans 12 to 2, with 10 draws. This clearly shows that Reshevsky was too much for Evans. Sep-16-12    RookFile: I wasn't aware that anybody in the world thought Larry Evans was better than Reshevsky. If Evans was alive today, he wouldn't make the claim himself. Sep-16-12    SimonWebbsTiger: I look forward to the score of <conrad> versus Spassky. Boris, old and depressingly unwell these days, could play odds of pawn and move yet still sweep the floor with this toad. Sep-16-12    SimonWebbsTiger: @<rookfile> Larry was a damn fine player nonetheless. This latest troll <conrad> probably has no clue who Horowitz, Denker, Abe Turner etc are. Sep-16-12    Eggman: <This clearly shows that Reshevsky was too much for Evans.> With all respect due Evans, I don't think there was ever any question about Reshevsky's superiority. Reshevsky is one of the greatest players never to win the world championship. Evans was a strong player, but not in that league. Sep-16-12    perfidious: Evans stronger than Reshevsky? This is bust-a-gut material. Sep-16-12    Everett: <Conrad93> here is a puzzle for you. I think Adams would crush Karjakin, Carlsen, Nakamura, etc. in 1999. Why? When you get the answer, I'm guessing you will still think that statistics should be taken at face value. After all, statistics show that it is very rare for facts to change an emotionally charged, subjective and ill-informed opinion. Sep-16-12    harrylime: <Conrad93> Are you any relation to William Conrad? Sep-16-12    PhilFeeley: Getting back to the topic of this page: has anyone heard any more news of Boris? Is he still in Moscow? Has anyone contacted him? Has FIDE done any investigating? Are there any journalists trying to track him down? There must be something in the Russian press. Translations please! Sep-16-12    Conrad93: Joseph Conrad, not William Conrad. Sep-17-12    rapidcitychess: I like to refrain from the word "weak" when describing 2700+ GMs... Sep-17-12    perfidious: <rapidcitychess> Thereby practising rather more restraint than a particular kibitzer who proclaims himself 'here to learn'....... Sep-17-12    Petrosianic: Everyone is fascinated by him, but nobody can explain why. If I said the world is made of snow, would all of you people fall over yourselves to see who could argue it out with me first? It's quite extraordinary. Sep-18-12    Everyone: <Everyone is fascinated by him> You might say that. Actually, he's on Everyone's iggy. Sep-18-12    TheFocus: <Actually, he's on Everyone's iggy.> There is always some peace for you when you put someone in the IG-box. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 99) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 79 OF 99 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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