Russian chess grandmaster Boris Spassky, dies aged 88

The Guardian

27-02-2025

Soviet chess grandmaster Boris Spassky, who was famously defeated at the height of the cold war, has died at 88, the Russian Chess Federation has announced.
'The tenth world champion Boris Spassky has died at 88,' the federation said in a statement on its website on Thursday, calling it a 'great loss for the country'. The statement did not say when he died or from what cause.
Spassky is best remembered for his duel with US player Bobby Fischer in 1972, which was emblematic of the confrontation between east and west, and was later referred to as 'the match of the century'.
The cold war showdown has been the subject of numerous books, documentaries and films. Most notably it inspired Walter Tevis's novel The Queen's Gambit, which was adapted into the acclaimed Netflix series in 2020.
Spassky became world champion in 1969 and held the title until he played the match that would define his career, facing the eccentric American prodigy.
The Soviet Union had dominated the game for years and Spassky faced a must-win situation, initially taking the lead.
But the American roared back to win, ending an unbroken streak of Soviet world champions since 1948.
Spassky showed great sportsmanship, applauding Fischer after losing the sixth game.
Although the loss was a slap in the face for Moscow, Spassky admitted decades later it was a relief to be rid of a 'colossal responsibility'.
Born in 1937 in Leningrad, now St Petersburg, Spassky showed prodigious talent early, becoming junior world champion and the youngest grandmaster in history at the time at 18.
Spassky, who was the oldest living world chess champion, represented France in three chess Olympiads in 1984, 1986 and 1988, and was seen playing in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris during the 1990s.
His health deteriorated in the early 2000s, and he disappeared from Paris in August 2012 before resurfacing in Moscow in October that year.
'It was my desire to return to Russia, because my time in France had run its course. It was time to start a new stage. I understood it was time to leave,' Spassky said at the time.