Queen sacrifices with Boris Spassky

by Johannes Fischer
7/27/2024 – Boris Spassky, world champion from 1969 to 1972, is regarded as a universal player. He played 1.e4 and 1.d4 and was equally at home in dynamic tactical positions as he was in positional-strategic ones. And he was a feared attacking player. It's no wonder that he managed a few nice queen sacrifices in the course of his career. A small selection. | Photo: Boris Spassky at the 1984 Thessaloniki Chess Olympiad / Gerhard Hund

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E. Geller - B. Spassky, 1964

In the first example, Spassky overruns the top Soviet player Efim Geller with Black. Geller (2 March 1925 - 17 November 1988) was one of the best players in the world for three decades, from the early 1950s to the end of the 1970s. During his career he achieved a favourable record against Mikhail Botvinnik (+4 =6 -1), Vasily Smyslov (+11 =37 -8), Tigran Petrosian (+6 =36 -3) and Bobby Fischer (+5 =2 -3) and qualified six times for Candidates Tournaments or Candidates competitions. In 1979, at the age of 54, he won the Soviet Championship, and in 1992 he became Senior World Champion in Bad Wörishofen.

Geller, who had a doctorate in economics and was a passionate basketball player before his chess career, was regarded as an excellent expert in openings and an outstanding analyst. He was a perfectionist, and his search for the best move put him in time trouble in many games. But in return he was a sought-after second who worked with players such as Petrosian, Spassky and Karpov.

Efim Geller, 1977 | Photo: Koen Suyk / Anefo - Dutch National Archives, The Hague, Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANeFo), 1945-1989

His relationship with Spassky was complex; they were colleagues and rivals. Geller lost twice to Spassky in the 1965 and 1968 Candidates matches, but in 1969 he supported Spassky in his World Championship match against Petrosian, and in 1972 he was Spassky's second in his World Championship match against Fischer in Reykjavík.

In his games against Spassky, however, Geller often had difficulties and his overall record of +6-10=22 against Spassky is worse than Geller's record against other world champions. He had a surprising explanation for this: "Boris was always so friendly to me, as a person and as a player, that I never felt any real sporting bite in me..." (Shakhmaty v Rossii, April 1997, quoted in: Andrew Soltis, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky and Korchnoi: A Chess Multibiography with 207 Games, McFarland 2019, p. 264).

However, there is no sign of friendliness in the following game.

Geller, Efim P0–1Spassky, Boris Vasilievich
Moscow Zonal
1964[Johannes Fischer]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 Bh5 7.c3 Nf6 8.d4 b5 9.Bb3 Be7 10.Be3 0-0 11.Nbd2 d5 12.g4 Bg6 13.dxe5?! Better was 13.Nxe5 e.g. Nxe5 14.dxe5 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.Qxd8 Rfxd8 17.Rfd1 Rd3 18.a4 Rad8 19.Bc2 Rxd1+ 20.Bxd1 h6 21.Be2 c6 22.axb5 axb5 23.Ra6 and White is clearly better - the black bishop on g6 is offside and the black pawns on the queenside are weak. 13...Nxe4 14.Nb1?! Now it seems that the pawn on d5 can no longer be protected. But the retreat of the knight to its starting square looks artificial and gives Black active options. Better was 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Bd5 Qe8 16.Bxc6 Qxc6 17.Nd4 with an approximately equal position. 14...Qc8! 15.Nd4 After 15.Bxd5 Rd8 White is caught in an unpleasant pin, and after 15.Qxd5 Na5 16.Qd1 Rd8 17.Nbd2 h5 the white kingside comes under pressure. 15...Nxe5! The position is tactical and dynamic and Spassky handles it excellently. 16.f4 After 16.Bxd5 Rd8 White comes under strong pressure, e.g. 17.Bxa8 Or 17.Bxe4 Bxe4 18.Nd2 Bd3 19.Re1 c5 20.N4b3 Bc4 with a clear advantage for Black. 17...Qxa8 18.Qe2 c5 19.Nf5 Bxf5 20.gxf5 Nxc3! 21.Nxc3 Nf3+ 22.Kh1 Nd4+ and Black wins. 16...c5 17.fxe5 cxd4 18.cxd4 Qd7 The first tactical exchange is over and Black is clearly better: White has to develop his knight on b1 a second time and White's king position is weakened. 19.Nd2 f6 20.Rc1 Kh8 21.Bf4 fxe5 22.Bxe5
22...Bg5! The prelude to a powerful queen sacrifice. 23.Rc7 Or 23.Nxe4 Bxc1 24.Nc5 Be3+ 25.Kh2 Qe7 with a clear advantage for Black. 23...Qxc7! 24.Bxc7 Be3+ 25.Kg2 Nxd2 For the queen, Black has got a rook, a bishop and a devastating attack. A good exchange. 26.Rxf8+ Rxf8 27.Bxd5 Rf2+ 28.Kg3 Nf1+ 29.Kh4 h6 30.Bd8 Rf8! With the devastating threat of ...Bf2+. White resigned.
0–1

B. Spassky - T. Petrosian, WM-Kampf 1969

Spassky played his first World Championship match in 1966, but narrowly lost to defending champion Petrosian 11½-12½. Three years later, in his second World Championship match against Petrosian in 1969, he did better: Spassky won 12½-10½ and became the 10th world champion in chess history.

Tigran Petrosian, world champion from 1963 to 1969 | Photo: Harry Pot, Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, Rijksfotoarchief: Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Fotopersbureau (ANEFO), Quelle: Wikipedia

In one of his best games in the second match, Spassky outplayed Petrosian positionally and then crowned the game with a beautiful queen sacrifice.

Spassky, Boris Vasilievich1–0Petrosian, Tigran V
World-ch26 Spassky-Petrosian +6-4=13
Moscow23.04.1969[Johannes Fischer]
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.d4 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 0-0 11.Bc4 Nc6 12.0-0 b6 13.Rad1 Bb7 14.Rfe1 Rc8 The resulting position is typical of the Semi-Tarrasch: White has a pawn majority in the centre and the possibility of building a passed pawn on the d-file, Black has a pawn majority on the queenside and chances on the c-file. As the game progresses, Spassky makes better use of his chances. 15.d5!? exd5 16.Bxd5 16.exd5 Na5 17.Bf1 Qd6 18.Ng5 Rcd8 The dangers Black faces in this position are shown by the consequences of 18...Qh6? a move that was recommended in contemporary commentaries at the time. But after 19.d6! Rcd8 20.Bd3 g6 21.Qf4 Black has difficulty finding a good move and is almost lost. 19.Re3 and White has at best a slight advantage. 16...Na5 17.Qf4 Qc7 18.Qf5 Bxd5? After this Black is at a disadvantage. Better was the hard-to-find 18...h6! e.g. 19.Ne5 Bxd5 20.exd5 Nb7! 21.Nc6 Nd6 22.Qf4 Rfe8 and Black has successfully blocked the passed pawn on d5. 19.exd5 Qc2 Now 19...Nb7 is too slow, and after 20.Ng5 Qc2 Or 20...g6 21.Qh3 h5 22.Ne4 Nd6 23.Nf6+ Kg7 24.Qg3 with a clear advantage for White. 21.Ne4 and White has a strong attack, e.g. Qxa2 22.Rd3 Qb2 23.Rh3 h6 24.Rxh6 gxh6 25.Nf6+ Kg7 26.Qh7+ Kxf6 27.Qxh6+ Kf5 28.g4+ Kxg4 29.Re4+ Kf5 30.Qf4+ Kg6 31.Qg3+ Kf5 32.Qf3+ Kg6 33.Rg4+ Kh7 34.Qh3# 20.Qf4! Spassky gives up the a-pawn and relies on the power of his passed pawn and the possibility of attacking on the kingside. Qxa2 21.d6 Rcd8 22.d7 Qc4 23.Qf5 h6 24.Rc1 Qa6 25.Rc7 b5 26.Nd4 The engines recommend here 26.Re8! Qd6 27.Rc8 Nc6 28.h3 g6 29.Qxb5 with a winning position for White, but perhaps Spassky was afraid to weaken his back rank so much with Tc8 and Te8. The engines see that Black can't exploit this, but for a human it's not so clear. 26...Qb6 Tougher was 26...Qd6 27.Nxb5 Qd2 28.Rf1 Nb3 and Black can still fight. 27.Rc8 Nb7 Black no longer has an adequate defence. A nice variation, which illustrates White's tactical possibilities is 27...b4 28.Re8 Qxd4 29.Rxf8+ Rxf8 30.Rxf8+ Kxf8 and now White wins with the nice deflection 31.Qc5+! Qxc5 32.d8Q# 28.Nc6 Nd6
29.Nxd8‼ With this queen sacrifice Spassky finishes the strategic masterpiece in style. Nxf5 30.Nc6 Black resigned - the d-pawn will cost him more material.
1–0

If you like, this game was revenge for a spectacular defeat that Spassky had suffered three years earlier in the tenth game of his first World Championship match against Petrosian. In this famous game, Petrosian sacrificed an exchange twice and culminated his strong play at the end with a pretty, if not complicated, queen sacrifice.

Petrosian, Tigran V1–0Spassky, Boris Vasilievich
World-ch25 Petrosian-Spassky +4-3=17
Moscow02.05.1966
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.0-0 Nc6 6.Nc3 d6 7.d4 a6 8.d5 Na5 9.Nd2 c5 10.Qc2 e5 11.b3 Ng4 12.e4 f5 13.exf5 gxf5 14.Nd1 b5 15.f3 e4 16.Bb2 exf3 17.Bxf3 Bxb2 18.Qxb2 Ne5 19.Be2 f4 20.gxf4 Bh3 21.Ne3 Bxf1 22.Rxf1 Ng6 23.Bg4 Nxf4 24.Rxf4 Rxf4 25.Be6+ Rf7 26.Ne4 Qh4 27.Nxd6 Qg5+ 28.Kh1 Raa7 29.Bxf7+ Rxf7
30.Qh8+
1–0

B. Spassky - R. Kholmov, 1971

But in his career, it was Spassky who had the pleasure of sacrificing his queen more times than Petrosian. For example, in the following game against Ratmir Kholmov, one of the Soviet Union's strongest players from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s.

Ratmir Kholmov (13 May 1925 – 18 February 2006)

But Kholmov was considered politically unreliable and so, despite his playing strength, he was only allowed to travel to tournaments in socialist countries, but he was still ranked number 8 in the world from August 1960 to March 1961 according to Chessmetrics.com. However, in 1971 he suffered a terrible defeat against Spassky in the final of the Soviet Team Championships in Rostov-on-Don.

Spassky, Boris Vasilievich26901–0Kholmov, Ratmir D2550
URS-chT Cup 07th final A
Rostov-on-Don08.1971[Johannes Fischer]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.g3 0-0 7.Bg2 Bg4 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.h3 Bd7 10.Nde2 Re8 11.b3 a5 12.Bb2 Qb8 13.0-0 The opening went well for White: he has a space advantage and good attacking chances. As the game progressed, Kholmov was unable to find a plan and was quickly overrun. b5 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Nd8 16.Rae1 Bf8 Black's position is bleak - five of the six black pieces are on the back rank and are helpless against the white attack on the kingside. 17.Nf4 c5 18.Nh5 Rxe1 19.Rxe1 h6
Prevents 20.Qg5, but opens up other possibilities for White. 20.Qxh6‼ gxh6 21.Nf6+ Kh8 22.Nxd7+ Kg8 23.Re8! Nc6 24.dxc6! Qa7 25.c7 Black loses more material.
1–0

This was not the only game in which Spassky sacrificed his queen on h6. He had also achieved this feat back in 1968 in the final of the Candidates Competition against his long-time rival Viktor Korchnoi...

Weiß zieht und gewinnt

...whom he mated here with 35.Qh6+.

And Spassky was also successful against the Yugoslav grandmaster Dragoljub Ciric at the 1970 GM tournament in Amsterdam - with, again, a queen sacrifice on h6.

B. Spassky - D. Ciric, IBM Turnier Amsterdam 1970
Weiß zieht und gewinnt

Spassky finished his attack in style: 28.Qxh6! and after 28...Nf6 29.Rxf6! Black resigned.

You can find even more queen sacrifices and spirited attacks by Spassky in the ChessBase Masterclass on Boris Spassky.


In this video course, experts including Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller and Oliver Reeh, examine the games of Boris Spassky. Let them show you which openings Spassky chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were and much more.


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Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

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