English Chess Forum

See below.

https://www.chess.com/players/boris-spassky

Shame to see legends pass, he was really close to being the longest lived world champion too, I think smyslov was just one year ahead of him at 89 when he died.

"Shame to see legends pass"

Agreed.

Chess Mind

Pete Doggers

Images of Boris #1: Boris with Rowena Bruce and the Lord Mayor of Plymouth, Alderman Percival D Pascho, circa 1965

Did anyone here ever get to meet/play Spassky in his lifetime?

Sad, but not unexpected news, I remember reading he had several health issues in recent years. He reached quite an advanced age considering his fondness for Vodka and cigarettes, at least in his younger days.

Interesting, I thought he had long left Russia, but he seems to have passed away in Moscow.

RIP another legend of the old guard gone.

I met him briefly at Lugano 40+ years ago. He was quite affably talking to anyone, even me. I did manage to photograph him just before one round, where Korchnoi approached him for a very friendly chat, at a time when they were supposed to hate each other. A friend of mine spotted him at a Tube station during a Philips and Drew event, and said, "Good evening, Mr Spassky", and got a cheery "Good evening" back.

He was living in France, but either moved, or was moved back to Russia - there seems to be some mystery about it. He wasn't too well then.

Boris Spassky is always fated to be best remembered for a match he lost but his reputation hinges on the extraordinary path he blazed through 1960s chess and those two extraordinary games against Bronstein and Larsen. It should also be remembered that he always had the best of his encounters with Fischer during that time - indeed Fischer never beat Spassky outside of their 1972 and 1992 matches.

Spassky's death also means that everybody who participated in the 1972 World Championship (from the candidates matches onwards) is now deceased although from earlier cycles Olafsson and Portisch (for whom 1972 was his only none appearance in a long span) still survive.

Joey Stewart wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 28, 2025 11:45 am

Did anyone here ever get to meet/play Spassky in his lifetime?

I had a front row seat at the Hastings Premier 1965-66 for the round when he made short work of 1965 British Champion Peter Lee.

Stewart Reuben often spoke of Spassky's presence at the annual Gibraltar tournament. He would probably have contributed a few anecdotes here.

My Facebook post today:

Sadly the great Boris Spassky died yesterday, at the age of 88.

Throughout my entire chess life I only had 3 encounters with the legendary figure, but from those interactions I already learned so much about him!

1) In 1979 I played Boris in a famous simul v 30 England Juniors, after which he said to the organiser Leonard Barden:
"This was my toughest ever simultaneous. Until today I've never lost more than four games in an exhibition in my life. Many of these youngsters would be Candidate Masters in Russia. I wouldn't take them on again for double the money."

2) Sometime in the early 1980s, at an event in London, Spassky stood for at least 10 seconds holding a toilet door open for me. Insignificant yes, but in another way not at all.

3) In 2002 my French League team played against Spassky's team. The match was very close. On board 2 Danny Gormally drew with White v Spassky. On board 1 I survived a very tough game with Black v Etienne Bacrot. Boris Shook my hand warmly: ' Congratulations on magnificent defence!' I knew immediately that I would always remember that moment.

Jim Plaskett tells this poignant story:
''A man who, in an event in London, after I had made a move against him which sacrificed material, said to me, "Bravo!"
In 1983 I took coffee with him and asked if he liked Bobby Fischer. He replied,
"Oh yes. I LOVE him!"
When visiting Fischer´s grave in Iceland, Spassky rose from it with tears in his eyes... and he asked whether the place next to it could be kept vacant.''

Boris Spassky was a very warm and kind man - quite simply a nice person.

This sad news brings the Fischer era to a close, in my mind at least. What an era it was!

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 28, 2025 1:11 pm

I met him briefly at Lugano 40+ years ago. He was quite affably talking to anyone, even me. I did manage to photograph him just before one round, where Korchnoi approached him for a very friendly chat, at a time when they were supposed to hate each other. A friend of mine spotted him at a Tube station during a Philips and Drew event, and said, "Good evening, Mr Spassky", and got a cheery "Good evening" back.

He was living in France, but either moved, or was moved back to Russia - there seems to be some mystery about it. He wasn't too well then.

They certainly did for a while after that 1978 match, Spassky himself said he did not speak to Korchnoi for years afterwards - they did make up later, but the same was true (perhaps more remarkably) of Korchnoi and Karpov as well.

Where does Boris stand in the pantheon? No one would claim he was the strongest of the champions, but his legend is assured thanks to the 1972 match, and numerous masterpieces of course.

I think a lot of guff was talked about Boris being a universal player. To me, he was not a positional player at all. He was a tactician to the core, like Tal only less wild.

His greatest strength was a feel for the initiative. He played few great endings, and had little appetite for defensive grinds.

The Cafferty book was one of the first books I owned. The games are a pleasure to play through, and I learned a lot from them.