7/15/2023 – Spassky is considered one of the most gifted players ever. A fine attacker and equally strong in the middlegame and endgame, the term universal style was coined for him. For CBM 214 we invited our authors to comment on their favourite Boris Spassky games. The result is a collection of 27 first-class annotated Spassky games from the period 1949 to 1989. You can take a look at two samples here. Enjoy!
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CBM #214 Special: Boris Spassky
Boris Spassky was born in Leningrad in 1937. His exceptional talent was recognised at an early age and nurtured by a monthly stipend and provision of a coach. 1955 was a special year for Spassky - he became World Junior Champion, was awarded the GM title and qualified for the zone tournament in Gothenburg, where the following curiosity occurred in the 14th round:
Exactly the same position was on the board in the parallel game Keres-Najdorf, but as Emanuel Berg shows in his analysis of Spassky,B - Pilnik,H 1-0 , Spassky's 23.h3!! is much better than the 24.h4 played by Keres.
After a few failures and some stagnation, Spassky made his attempt on the throne in 1965, and after competitive victories over Keres, Geller and Tal, finally sat opposite world champion Petrosian in 1966, against whom he was narrowly defeated. Three years later, however, a more mature and better prepared Spassky was able to defeat the 'Iron Tigran' and thus became the 10th world champion in chess history. The new responsibility took its toll on Spassky, and he would later describe the years as a title holder as the most unhappy of his life.
In 1972 Boris Spassky lost the 'Match of the Century' in Reykjavik to Bobby Fischer, with whom he remained on friendly terms throughout his life. Two years later, in 1974, Spassky lost the Candidates Final to Anatoly Karpov, who, after Fischer failed to defend his title in 1975, became World Champion at the green table. In 1976 Spassky took citizenship of France, whom he represented three times in total at Chess Olympiads. He took part in two more World Championship cycles, but only made it to the semi-finals once more, in 1977 against Korchnoi. In 1992, 20 years after Reykjavik, Spassky ('I wanted to give the chess world back its king') played a rematch against Fischer in what was then Yugoslavia. In the German Bundesliga he played for SG Solingen for many years.
As a sample we present below Oliver Reeh's analysis of his game against the 10th World Champion from the Bundesliga in 1989.
Incidentally, one of his glories, the King's Gambit sacrifice win Spassky,B - Bronstein,D 1-0, was even immortalized on the big screen - in the James Bond film 'From Russia with Love'! You can watch Lubomir Ftacnik's analysis of this game here as well!
Oliver Reeh comments on Spassky-Reeh (Bundesliga 1989)
My first intensive encounter with chess was in 1972, when my father and I played the games of the world championship match Spassky-Fischer on the beach of the French coastal town of Pornichet. The challenge for us was not only to make sense of the (sometimes faulty) foreign language notation, but above all not to let the newspaper blow away in the fresh Atlantic wind! Knowing just the rules, I didn't understand anything about what was happening in the games, of course, but was somehow fascinated by the game. By the time I joined a chess club in 1975, Boris Spassky (not Bobby Fischer, for whatever reason) had become my first chess hero. 14 years later I represented Delmenhorster SK in the Bundesliga at the top board, and my first opponent of the season was ... Boris Spassky! You can imagine that I was a pretty excited before this game.
Reeh fights his role model with his own weapons! Like Tal, Spassky was fond of this side variation in the 80s. Black takes up the fight for the dark centre squares and does not shy away from giving up the bishop pair. 6...e5 is the classic approach.
7...Nc6 An alternative is 7...Nfd7 8.0–0 (8.Rc1 prevents the following doubling of the c-pawns, with the possible continuation 8...e5 9.d5 f5 10.Ng5 f4 11.Bxg4 Qxg5) 8...Nc6 9.d5 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Na5 11.Be2 Bxc3!? 12.bxc3 e5 13.dxe6 fxe6 White has the bishop pair, but also the weak c-pawns 14.f4 b6 15.Qe1 Qe7 16.Qg3 Rae8 17.Rae1 Qg7 18.Bc1 Nc5 19.Qe3 Qd7 20.h4 ½–½ (20) Spassky,B (2615)-Zueger,B (2385) Zuerich 1984
Hint: Leon Mendonca shows in ChessBase Magazine #213how he was successful with White in the line with 4...Nfd7 ("the main move") beginning of this year in the Bundesliga against GM Stojanovic. Here you can find an excerpt from his analysis!
Full playing time of the video in CBM #213: 44:57 minutes
8.0–0 I remember the following game from an earlier Bundesliga season, in which White was almost half an hour late (in those days that wasn't punished by losing the game). Spassky, meanwhile, didn't wander around kibitzing, but remained focused and waiting at his board the entire time, which somehow impressed me. 8.Ng1 After this retreat Spassky looked slightly puzzled - a rarity, since he usually kept his poker face. 8...Bd7 9.d5 Ne5 10.h3 Be8 11.Qd2 c6 12.f4 Ned7 13.Nf3 cxd5 14.exd5 Nc5 15.0–0 Rc8 16.Rfe1 Bd7 17.Nd4 Nfe4 18.Nxe4 Nxe4 19.Qd3 Nc5 20.Qd2 Ne4 21.Qd3 Nc5 22.Qd2 Ne4 ½–½ Gruen,G-Spassky,B (2605) Germany 1983
8...Re8 9.d5 An idea of 8...Re8 is clarified by the line 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 e5 11.d5 Nd4! 12.Bxd4? exd4 13.Qxd4 Nxe4 with advantage black.
9...Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Ne5 11.Be2
White has the bishop pair and space advantage. In return, Black has some control over the dark squares and can use ...c6 or ...e6 to break up the white centre.
White has driven back the knight and increased his space advantage. Black has the possibility to become active with ...cxd5 and/or e6...
15.a3 a6 16.Qd3 Qc7 Typical would be 16...cxd5!? 17.exd5 (17.cxd5 Nc5) 17...e6!? with position opening and black activity.
17.b4
More space!
17...a5 A disadvantage of b4 - Black gets counterplay in the a-file!
18.g4 Even more space!
18...axb4 19.axb4 h6 20.h4
All white pawns on the 4th/5th rank! To my great surprise, Spassky offered a draw with this move, which I accepted with great palpitations (and a certain pride). White's position looks impressive because of his huge space advantage, but on the other hand the advance of the pawns has also left weaknesses, so that Black could come to tactical chances when the game opens up.
After 20.h4 I intended 20...Ra8 together with ...Ra3. I remember how Spassky analysed this position with me for over an hour, showing great respect. The following season I then moved from Delmenhorst to SG Solingen, becoming Boris Spassky's teammate for several years. Apart from the fact that I benefited enormously chess-wise, I got to know him during this time as an extremely friendly and (even in defeats) sportingly fair contemporary - simply a great guy for me in every respect! ½–½
Lubomir Ftacnik comments on Spassky-Bronstein (USSR Championship 1960)
2...exf4 3.Nf3 d5 4.exd5 Bd6 5.Nc3
Spassky did not get the chess crown thanks to the opening knowledge, it was more the universally good play in various positions.
5...Ne7 6.d4 0–0 6...c6!?
7.Bd3 Nd7 8.0–0 h6?
Bronstein is making a mistake that is surprisingly common for these days despite much deeper understanding of chess strategy. Especially in the positions with a board full of pieces it is extremely unlikely that the pawn move (as opposed to the move by a suitable piece) is the best continuation. 8...Nf6!? 9.Ne5 Nfxd5 10.Nxd5 Nxd5 11.Bxf4 Nxf4 12.Rxf4 Qg5!=
9.Ne4! Nxd5 10.c4 Ne3 The jump of the knight to the central square is more than natural, since going sideways would not be satisfactory.10...Nb4 11.Bb1 Nf6 12.Nxd6 Qxd6 13.Qd2 Nc6 14.Qxf4 and White is better.
11.Bxe3 fxe3 12.c5 Be7
13.Bc2! Spassky managed to notice that the black position is badly unbalanced from the point of colour control. Every vital element is on the dark squares, only the unplaying bishop on c8 is rebalancing the situation. Naturally White is rushing up the attack on the light squares! 13.Qe2 Nf6 14.Qxe3 Re8=
13...Re8 13...g6!? 14.Qd3 Nf6 15.Qxe3 and White is slightly better.
14.Qd3 e2?! Bronstein was one of the most original players and chess thinkers in the history. He was fully aware of the difficult situation when normal moves were not a satisfactory defence, hence the "spanner in the works".
15.Nd6? Every chess player needs to learn the importance of proper calculation which is even more important than the rule of "holding ones horses". Spassky could not resist the chance to play truly romantic chess, but objectively this jump loses advantage. History favours the brave, not only did white manage to win the game, but it was used in the Bond film "From Russia with Love!" 15.Rf2! Nf8 16.Ne5 f5 17.Bb3+ Kh7 18.Rxe2?; 15.Qxe2 Nf8 16.Rad1 and White is better.
15...Nf8? If assigning marks to moves (chess emojis!) is very sensitive in this spectacular game, the question mark fully belongs to the meek solution. Black could have equalized with the help of the extremely brave 15...Bxd6! Bxd6! 16.Qh7+ Kf8 17.cxd6 exf1Q+
16.Nxf7!
exf1Q+ 17.Rxf1 Bf5 Bronstein openly admits that he failed to solve the position correctly. The bishop move is a true sign of desperation in a completely lost position. 17...Kxf7 18.Ne5+ Kg8 19.Qh7+! Nxh7 20.Bb3+ Kh8 21.Ng6#; 17...Qd5!? 18.Bb3! (18.N3e5? Bxc5 19.Nxh6+ gxh6 20.Bb3 Rxe5!?) 18...Qxf7! (18...Qh5 19.Nxh6+ Kh8 20.Nf7+ Kg8 21.N7g5+ Kh8 22.Bf7+–) 19.Bxf7+ Kxf7 20.Qc4+ Kg6 21.Qg8! Bf6 (21...Be6 22.Ne5+ Kh5 23.Qxg7+–) 22.Ne5+ (22.Nh4+ Bxh4 23.Qf7+ Kh7 24.Qxe8 Ng6 25.Rf7 c6 26.Rc7+–) 22...Bxe5 23.Qf7+ Kh7 24.Qxe8 Bxd4+ 25.Kh1 Ng6 26.h4+– (26.Rd1 Bxc5 27.Rd8 Ne7 28.h4!+–)
18.Qxf5 Qd7 19.Qf4
White wants to keep many attacking pieces, since the domination on the light squares is still devastating for the defender. 19.Qd3 Bf6 20.Bb3 Re6 21.N3e5 Qe7 22.Qf3 Re8 23.Nxh6+ gxh6 24.Qxf6+–
Despite the glitches this became a gem in the chess history. 23.Qe4+ Kh8 24.Rxf8++– 1–0
The complete collection - 27 top-class games by Boris Spassky from 1949 to 1989 - with the analyses of our CBM authors can be found in ChessBase Magazine #214!
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Highlights of CBM #214
From the World Championship match Ding Liren against Ian Nepomniachtchi to repertoire ideas for Dutch, Najdorf or Scandinavian or the series "Fundamental Endgame Knowledge" Part 4 by Dr. Karsten Mueller:
Over 7 hours of video playing time with U14 World Champion Ilamparthi, Ivan Sokolov, Jan Markos, Mihail Marin, Dorian Rogozenco et al.
Top games and master analyses
World Championship 2023: Anish Giri, Hou Yifan, Sam Shankland and Wesley So comment on the most important games of a highly entertaining duel.
TePe Sigeman: The veteran Peter Svidler put several young top players in their place at the tournament in Malmö. Analyses of the tournament winner as well as Abhimanyu Mishra, Boris Gelfand, Nils Grandelius and Jorden van Foreest.
Special: Boris Spassky
CBM authors analyse their favourite game of the 10th World Champion. An exclusive collection of 27 annotated games from the period 1949 to 1989 awaits you!
All in One
The Hippopotamus Defence – a setup against everything! Igor Stohl dissects the game Tomashevsky-Carlsen with the opening moves 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nf3 a6 5.a4 b6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0-0 Ne7 8.Re1 Bb7 9.Bf4 Nd7 10.Qd2 h6
Ilamparthi: How I got U14 World Champion
With 9.5 out of 11, the now 14-year-old Ilamparthi won the 2022 U14 World Championship. Play through the decisive moments of his games together with Sagar Shah and the young champion - in interactive format with video feedback!
Opening videos
Ivan Sokolov checks Gukesh's novelty and pawn sacrifice 9.Qc2 in the Catalan from the Menorca Open 2023 - "excellent preparation by Gukesh!" Sipke Ernst examines the novelty 8.h4 in the Ragozin Variation, which was discussed in the duel between his compatriots Van Foreest and Giri at the Tata Steel tournament 2023. And Mihail Marin takes up the opening line 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 c5 4.Be2 Nc6 5.0-0, which came up on the board in the 12th game of the World Championship match, among others.
"Queens: flexible, lively or even dancing" - Rainer Knaak presents eight traps from current tournament practice. Including three FritzTrainer videos!
Move by Move
Robert Ris chose the eighth game of the World Championship match between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi for his interactive video – a fascinating game in which the new World Champion missed the win, however.
Modern Classics
The Karpov-Yussupov game (1983) is a "real masterpiece of positional play". In this game, the then World Champion demonstrated in an exemplary manner how to prevent any active play on the part of his opponent through perfect prophylaxis.
Practical tips for the tournament player: Symmetrical positions
Should you aim for symmetrical positions if you want to play safe in a game? Jan Markos explains what is important in these positions and why small differences are of great importance!
All-rounder Boris Spassky
Strategy expert Mihail Marin sheds light on the strategy of the 10th World Champion on the basis of games before he won the World Championship title in 1969 - because as Korchnoi once said, Spassky played his best chess sometime between 1958 and 1963.
Tactics all the way!
In the tactics article with 45 games, our expert Oliver Reeh has compiled material for more than one training session. His four favourite combinations are best solved move by move in the interactive video format with feedback function!
Fundamental Endgame Knowledge Part 4: King+Pawn vs. King+Pawn
Karsten Mueller continues his training series. Following an introductory video, your technique is called for in three interactive videos! In addition, Mueller provides a contribution with the most beautiful endgames by Boris Spassky (video introduction + analyses).
ChessBase Magazine trial subscription with 33% savings advantage and thank you bonus!*
Try out ChessBase Magazine now! Order the ChessBase Magazine taster package! Read ChessBase Magazine for 6 months (= 3 issues) for thespecial price of only € 44.90 €(instead of € 65,70 for buying them individually). As a thank you, you will also receive 3 months ChessBase Premium Membership free of charge.
*Bonus for new subscribers only, i.e. there was no CBM subscription for 12 months!
ChessBase Magazine one year subscription - plus original ChessBase USB stick with 128 GB *
Save twice with ChessBase Magazine: For the annual subscription to ChessBase Magazine you’ll pay only € 109.90 per year (compared to € 131.40 for the 6 individual issues).
* Bonus only for new subscribers, i.e. there was no CBM subscription for 12 months! As a new subscriber you will receive the original ChessBase USB stick with 128 GB
In this 60 Minutes, Andrew Martin guides you through all the key ideas you need to know to play with confidence. Whether you’re looking to surprise your opponents, or simply want a straightforward weapon against e5, the Centre Attack has you covered.
Videos by Mihail Marin: Najdorf Variation with 6.f4 and Nico Zwirs: Italian ‘giucco pianissimo’. ‘Lucky bag’ with 45 analyses by Edouard, Ftacnik, Gupta, Pelletier and others. Update service with over 50,000 new games for your database!
This video course provides a comprehensive and practical White repertoire in the Ruy Lopez! Through instructive model games and in-depth theoretical explanations, you will learn how to confidently handle both main lines and sidelines.
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
Experts examine the games of Max Euwe. Let them show you which openings Euwe chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, which tactical abilities he had or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.
€34.90
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