Boris Spassky's Chess Legacy is Greater Than Just Being Bobby Fischer's Most Famous Opponent

Boris Spassky, who reigned as World Chess Champion from 1969-72, passed away today at the age of 88. He is perhaps best known for losing the 1972 World Chess Championship match to Bobby Fischer, but his chess legacy is much greater than being Fischer's most famous opponent. Spassky won the Soviet Championship--one of the strongest tournaments in the world--twice (1961, 1973), and he twice tied for first only to lose in the playoffs (1956, 1963). He played in three World Chess Championship matches, losing to Tigran Petrosian in 1966, dethroning Petrosian in 1969, and then losing to Fischer in 1972. Spassky was an elite level player for the better part of 30 years, participating in the Candidates round of the World Chess Championship cycle in 1956, 1965, 1968, 1974, 1977, 1980, and 1985. He won the Candidates cycle in 1965 and 1968--earning the right to play Petrosian on both occasions--and he lost to Viktor Korchnoi in the 1977 Candidates Finals. Spassky represented the Soviet Union seven times in Chess Olympiads from 1962-78, scoring 45 wins, 48 draws, and just one loss while winning a total of 13 medals (individual and team combined).

Spassky was a prodigy by the standards of his time; in the modern era, it is common for the best players to earn the Grandmaster title before the age of 20, but when Spassky became a Grandmaster at age 18 he was the youngest Grandmaster ever, a mark he held for just three years before Fischer became a Grandmaster at age 15.

Spassky won the 1955 World Junior Chess Championship, the event's third edition. He was the first World Junior Chess Champion who became the World Chess Champion, a feat later matched by Anatoly Karpov (1969 World Junior Chess Champion, 1975 World Chess Champion), Garry Kasparov (1980 World Junior Chess Champion, 1985 World Chess Champion), and Viswanathan Anand (1987 World Junior Chess  Champion, 2000 FIDE World Chess Champion/2007 World Chess Champion).

Spassky is deservedly praised for his universal playing style, but it should be remembered that he was a brilliant and ferocious attacker, particularly in his early years. Here is an example of the young Spassky's swashbuckling style, as he used a devastating sacrifice on move 16 to dismantle Grandmaster David Bronstein, who battled World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik to a 12-12 tie in the 1951 World Chess Championship match (by rule, Botvinnik retained the title). Spassky was White versus Bronstein in this game from the 1960 Soviet Championship:

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5 Bd6 5. Nc3 Ne7 6. d4 O-O 7. Bd3 Nd7 8. O-O h6 9. Ne4 Nxd5 10. c4 Ne3 11. Bxe3 fxe3 12. c5 Be7 13. Bc2 Re8 14. Qd3 e2 15. Nd6 Grandmaster Andy Soltis called this move "One of the deepest sacrifices this side of The Evergreen Game." Nf8 16. Nxf7 exf1=Q+ 17. Rxf1 Bf5 18. Qxf5 Qd7 19. Qf4 Bf6 20. N3e5 Qe7 21. Bb3 Bxe5 22. Nxe5+ Kh7 23. Qe4+ 1-0. A position based on this game was featured in the 1963 James Bond movie "From Russia With Love."

In the 1970 Soviet Union versus the Rest of the World match, Spassky won a scintillating miniature versus Grandmaster Bent Larsen, defeating Larsen on the Black side of Larsen's Opening (1. b3):

1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. c4 Nf6 4. Nf3 e4 5. Nd4 Bc5 6. Nxc6 dxc6 7. e3 Bf5 8. Qc2 Qe7 9. Be2 O-O-O 10. f4 Ng4 11. g3 h5 12. h3 h4 13. hxg4 hxg3 14. Rg1 Rh1 15. Rxh1 g2 16. Rf1 Qh4+ 17. Kd1 gxf1=Q+ 0-1.

Despite Spassky's long, impressive career, he is best known--particularly to the general public--as Fischer's most famous opponent. Spassky scored three wins and two draws versus Fischer prior to facing him in the 1972 World Chess Championship, but Fischer won the 1972 match 12.5-8.5 despite spotting Spassky a 2-0 lead by blundering in a drawn position in game one and forfeiting game two while protesting the playing conditions. In 1992, Fischer beat Spassky in a non-title match (even though Fischer insisted that this was a World Chess Championship rematch) 10-5 with 15 draws (draws did not count in the score, per Fischer's rules). Spassky was on good personal terms with most of his opponents, including Fischer. Spassky said, "I prefer to have good relations with my opponent. My chess suffers if I have to play a man I consider unfriendly." Spassky was not only friendly with Fischer, but he shared some of Fischer's antisemitic view. Fischer's antisemitism is well-documented, but Spassky's feelings about Jews are not discussed as often; however, in 2005, Spassky signed a Russian petition seeking to ban Jewish organizations in Russia. Spassky later distanced himself from that petition but did not deny that he signed it. Evgeny Gik, a chess master who knew Spassky well, recalled that several Grandmasters reacted with disgust in the 1990s when Spassky--the guest of honor at a dinner party--made antisemitic remarks. Although Spassky did not speak publicly about Jews as often as Fischer did, Spassky's general attitude toward Jews is not a secret, and is a regrettable blot on his name.

After losing the match to Fischer in 1992, Spassky played occasionally in the 1990s, including a 5.5-4.5 match loss to 16 year old prodigy Judit Polgar in 1993. Spassky suffered a minor stroke in 2006, followed by a more serious stroke in 2010 that paralyzed the left side of his body. He spent the last stage of his life outside of the public eye, but Spassky's chess legacy is that he was a great champion, not just Fischer's foil.

Three-time Interzonal Winner Bent Larsen Passes Away

Bent Larsen, the six-time Danish chess champion (1954-56, 1959, 1963-64) who is the only person other than Mikhail Tal to win three Interzonal tournaments (1964, 1967, 1976), passed away on September 9 at the age of 75. Larsen earned the Grandmaster title in 1956 after scoring 11 wins, six draws and just one loss while representing Denmark on board one at the Chess Olympiad. Larsen was a serious World Championship contender from the early 1960s through the mid-1970s but he never quite reached the summit; however, Larsen won a total of 26 games against the seven players who reigned as World Champion from 1948-85: Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov (you can find all of those games at the bottom of this page; be sure to scroll all the way through, as only the first 20 games are initially visible).

Larsen won numerous strong tournaments--particularly during his prime years in the 1960s--and in 1967 he was awarded the inaugural Chess Oscar, a prestigious honor bestowed on the chess player of the year (as voted on by Grandmasters and chess journalists); Larsen and Viktor Korchnoi (1978) are the only Chess Oscar winners who never became World Champion. For many years, Fischer and Larsen were the two strongest non-Soviet players in the world. Although Fischer infamously quit playing chess in public from 1972-92, many people forget (or don't realize) that even during his prime he had several extended absences from serious competition, including 1968-70 when he only played in two relatively minor events plus one game in the New York Metropolitan Chess League. When Bobby Fischer returned to serious competition in the 1970 USSR versus the World match he showed great respect for Larsen by playing on board two even though he had a higher rating than Larsen; Larsen scored 2.5/4 versus World Champion Boris Spassky and Grandmaster Leonid Stein and Fischer tallied 3/4 versus former World Champion Tigran Petrosian but the USSR won the match 20.5-19.5.

Larsen finished tied for second behind Fischer in the 1970 Interzonal, though Larsen did win their head to head encounter in that event despite having the black pieces; this was Fischer's only defeat in 23 rounds. Here is a lightly annotated version of that game:

Fischer-Larsen, 1970 Palma de Mallorca Interzonal

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 Be7 8.Be3 O-O 9. Qe2 a6 10. O-O-O Qc7 11. g4 Nd7 12. h4!? In his book Bobby Fischer GM Karsten Muller criticizes this move and says that the main line starts with 12. g5. In Modern Chess Openings (15th Edition), this opening is classified as Sicilian Defense/Velimirovic Attack (pp. 330-331) and 11...Nd7 is critiqued for giving White the flexibility to choose among h4, Rhg1 and even the speculative Nf5 (played by current World Champion Viswanathan Anand in a 1997 game). MCO 15 suggests that Black should have traded Ns on d4. The chess engine Fritz assesses the position to be equal after ...Nd7 or ...Nxd4 but gives Black a slight edge after ...Na5. As for Fischer's 12th move in the actual game, Fritz prefers a3 (presumably to preserve the KB), though I doubt that any top level human player would play that move in this kind of position for fear of weakening his K. 12... Nc5 13. g5 b5 14. f3 Bd7 15. Qg2 b4 16. Nce2 Nxb3+ 17. axb3 a5 18. g6 fxg6 19. h5 Nxd4 20. Nxd4 g5 21. Bxg5 Bxg5+ 22. Qxg5 h6 23. Qg4 Rf7 Black has deftly rebuffed Fischer's K-side attack and now can operate with impunity in the center and on the Q-side. 24. Rhg1 a4 25. bxa4 e5 26. Ne6 Qc4 27. b3 Qxe6 28. Qxe6 Bxe6 29. Rxd6 Re8 The smoke has cleared. Fischer halted Black's looming attack by trading off Qs but at the price of sacrificing a piece for two pawns, which should not be quite sufficient compensation here because White's pawns are not yet very dangerous. 30. Rb6 Rxf3 31. Rxb4 Rc8 32. Kb2 Although GM Muller does not say anything about this move, it appears to be a serious mistake because now Black can seize the seventh rank with great effect. Instead of the text, Fritz recommends 32. c4 Bf7 33. Rb7 Rh3 34. a5. 32... Rf2 33. Rc1 Bf7 34. a5 Ra8 35. Rb5 Bxh5 36. Rxe5 Be2 37. Rc5 h5 38. e5?? GM Muller says that this is the fatal error. Fischer had to try to slow down the h pawn by playing 38. Rh1. 38... Bf3 Larsen seizes control of the promotion squares of his h pawn and Fischer's a pawn. 39. Kc3 h4 40. Kd3 Re2 41. Rf1 Rd8+ 42. Kc3 Be4 43. Kb4 Rb8+ 44. Ka3 h3 45. e6 Bxc2 46. b4 Re3+ 47. Kb2 Bd3 48. Ra1 Ba6 49. Rc6 Rxb4+ 50. Kc2 Bb7 51.Rc3 Re2+ 52. Kd1 Rg2 0-1

Larsen later faced Fischer in the 1971 Candidates semifinals but Fischer blanked him 6-0 (Fischer was in the midst of an amazing streak of 20 straight wins versus elite Grandmasters en route to taking the title from Spassky). It has been suggested that Larsen never quite recovered from that setback--at least in terms of contending for the World Championship--but that is perhaps an unfair and unfounded contention: by the time the next World Championship cycle began Larsen was already pushing 40--i.e., he was at or near the end of what are typically the prime years for a world class chess player--and a young generation of Grandmasters was emerging, led by Karpov, who became World Champion after Fischer forfeited the crown. Karpov reigned from 1975 until Garry Kasparov defeated him in 1985; regardless of what happened in Larsen's 1971 match with Fischer it is unlikely that Larsen could have dethroned Karpov even if he had battled his way to a World Championship match in the 1970s or early 1980s.

Larsen so often played b3 as his first move with White that this opening is most commonly referred to by his name. Although superficially that is not a very aggressive way to begin a game Larsen was in fact a courageous attacking player who fearlessly would take risks to win and who was notorious for declining draw offers (a trait he shared with Fischer).