Early days
When Spassky discovered chess, he was nine years old. His biographer Andrew Soltis writes:
One day Spassky’s older brother took him to Kirov Park [in Leningrad] ... and they found the chess pavilion, a common feature in large Soviet-era parks. ... Spassky remembered it had “a glass veranda surrounded by trees” with “a large black knight in front”: “It was marvelous weather. The wind from the bay of Finland played with the birch leaves, the sad northern sun shone on the glass of the veranda”. There was no one inside but he was mesmerized by the tables, boards and pieces. “I was seeing a fairy tale world... I lost my sense of reality... A wild passion took possession of me. ... Looking back, I had a sort of predestination in my life. ... I understood that through chess I could express myself and chess became my natural language”.
(Andrew Soltis, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky and Korchnoi: A Chess Multibiography with 207 Games, McFarland 2019, p. 33)
That was in 1946, shortly after the Second World War, which had a lasting impact on Spassky’s life. Spassky was born on 30 January 1937 in Leningrad, the city besieged by the German army during the war from 8 September 1941 to 27 January 1944. The Wehrmacht wanted to starve Leningrad, and it is estimated that about 1.1 million people died during the siege, most of them from hunger and debilitation.
Enjoy Capablanca's fine technique, Tal's magic, Lasker's fighting spirit, Petrosian's defensive skills, Smyslov's feeling for harmony, and Alekhine's and Spassky's flair for the attack.
But shortly before the German siege ring closed around Leningrad, Spassky was able to escape with his brother to Perm, where he was placed in an orphanage. But when his parents picked him up in the summer of 1943, he was on the verge of starvation and, as he later confessed, could barely stand on his feet.
After the reunion, Spassky’s parents initially went to Moscow with their children, but when his father left the family, Spassky moved back to Leningrad with his mother and siblings, where they lived in abject poverty.
Chess offered Spassky an escape from this world of poverty, and once the royal game had captivated him in Kirov Park, the magic of the game never left him.
He returned to the pavilion the next day, and the day after that. He was there from the hour that the pavilion opened to when it closed at 9 p.m. ... “I had to play every day. I couldn’t do anything else”. (Soltis, p. 33)
Spassky’s enthusiasm for chess and his talent made him one of the best players in the Soviet Union within a short time, and already in 1948, at the age of only ten, he received a rarely awarded state scholarship for his success as a chess player, with which he was able to support his family.

Boris Spassky in 1948
As early as 1952, he qualified for the semifinals of the USSR Championship, where he obtained a fifty-percent score, and in 1953 FIDE awarded him the title of International Master. In 1955 he became World Junior Champion, and in the same year he qualified for the Candidates Tournament in Amsterdam to be played in 1956, where he finished in 3rd-7th place.

Boris Spassky | Photo: Herbert Behrens / Anefo; / CC BY-SA 3.0 NL
But this rapid rise was followed by a long period of stagnation, and it was not until eight years later, at the 1964 Interzonal Tournament in Amsterdam, that Spassky qualified again for the Candidates Tourneament.
In the 1958 USSR Championship, which was also a qualifying tournament for the Interzonal Tournament, on the other hand, he fell just short. However, he won the beauty prize in that tournament — for a brilliant victory in a Sicilian.
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Bc4 Qa5 8.Qd2 e6 9.0-0-0 b5 10.Bb3 Bb7 11.Rhe1 Be7 12.f4 Nc5 13.e5 dxe5 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.fxe5 Bh4 16.g3 Be7 17.Bxe6! 0-0 17...fxe6 18.Nxe6 Rd8 19.Nxg7+ Kf7 20.Qh6 17...Nxe6 18.Nxe6 fxe6 19.Qd7+ Kf7 20.Rf1+ 17...Qd8!? 18.Bxf7+ Kxf7 19.Qf2+ 19.Qf4+ 19...Kg8 20.Nf5 Qc7 21.e6 h6 22.Nd5 Bxd5 23.Rxd5 Rc8 24.Kb1 Kh7 25.Nxg7 Rhf8 26.Nf5 18.Bb3 Rad8 19.Qf4 b4 20.Na4! 20.Nf5 bxc3! 20...Nxb3+ 21.axb3 bxc3 22.Nxe7+ Kh8 23.Kb1 21.Nxe7+ Kh8 22.Kb1 Ne4 20...h6 20...Nxa4 21.Nf5 Rxd1+ 21...Qc5 22.Bxa4 Rxd1+ 23.Rxd1 Bc8 24.Nd6 22.Rxd1 Bc5 22...Bd8 23.e6‼ Nc5 24.e7 Nxb3+ 25.axb3 Bxe7 26.Nxe7+ Kh8 27.Kb1 23.Qg5 g6 24.Nh6+ Kg7 25.Ng4 21.Nxc5 Qxc5 21...Bg5 22.Qxg5 hxg5 23.Nxb7 Qc7 24.Nxd8 Rxd8 25.e6 22.h4 Bd5 23.Nf5 Bxb3 24.axb3 Rxd1+ 25.Rxd1 Rc8 26.Qe4 Bf8 27.e6 fxe6 28.Qxe6+ Kh8 29.Qe4 Qc6 30.Qd3 Re8 31.h5 Be7 32.Nxe7 Rxe7 33.Qg6 Qe8 34.g4 Re1 35.Qxe8+ Rxe8 36.Rd4 a5 37.Kd2 Re5 38.c4 bxc3+ 39.bxc3 Rg5 40.c4 Kg8 41.Rf4 g6 1–0
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Spassky,B | - | Polugaevsky,L | - | 1–0 | 1958 | | URS-ch25 Final | 2 |
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On the way to the World Championship
In the 1965 Candidates Matches, Spassky knocked out Paul Keres (5½-4½), Efim Geller (5½-2½) and Mikhail Tal (7-4), and thus gained the right to challenge Tigran Petrosian for the World Championship title in 1966. Spassky lost the match by a narrow margin of 11½-12½, but as the loser of the World Championship match he automatically qualified for the next edition of the Candidates. And he was successful again: he first knocked out Geller (5½-2½), then Bent Larsen (5½-2½) and finally Viktor Korchnoi (6½-3.½) — he was thus allowed to challenge Petrosian for the World Championship title for a second time.
This time things worked out better than three years before: in the second attempt, Spassky won 12½-10½ and thus became the 10th World Champion in chess history. On the way to the coveted World Championship victory, Spassky won a few brilliant games against the Sicilian at decisive moments.
In the quarterfinals of the 1968 Candidates Tournament, Spassky met Efim Geller, an outstanding theoretician who, however, often found himself in time trouble in his search for the best move. That was his undoing against Spassky.

Efim Geller (unidentified photographer)
Five games of the match ended in draws, while Spassky won three times. In all three games Spassky had white and in all three games a Closed Sicilian appeared on the board. In the first two of these Sicilian games, Geller temporarily had a clear advantage — if not a winning position — but in time trouble he spoiled his positions and ended up losing. In the third and last Sicilian game of the match, Spassky scored a convincing victory with the help of a brutal mating attack.
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1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 2...Nc6 3.Nf3 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 3.g3 3.Nf3 a6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 3.f4 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 Nf6 6.e5 Nc6 7.Bb5 dxe5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.fxe5 Nxe5 10.Bf4 Ned7 11.0-0-0 a6! 12.Bc4 e6 13.a4 h6 14.Nf3 Bb4 15.Ne5 Ke7 3...Nc6 4.Bg2 g6 5.d3 Bg7 6.f4 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.0-0 0-0 8.h3 Rb8 9.Be3 e5 10.a3 Nd4 11.b4 b6 12.Rb1 Qc7 6.Nh3 e6 7.Be3 Nge7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qd2 Nd4 10.Bh6 Bxh6 11.Qxh6 f6 12.Qd2 e5 13.f4 Qb6 14.Rab1 c4 15.Kh1 cxd3 16.cxd3 Be6 17.Rf2 6.Nge2 e5 7.Be3 Nge7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qd2 Be6 10.f4 Nd4 11.Rae1 Qd7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.h3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nd4 9.Nce2 e5 10.c3 Ne6 11.f4 6...Nf6 6...e6 7.Nf3 Nge7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Bd2 Rb8 10.Rb1 b5 11.a3 a5 12.a4 b4 13.Nb5 d5 14.c4 bxc3 15.bxc3 c4 16.Be3 cxd3 17.e5 Ba6 18.Qxd3 6...e5 7.Nh3 Nge7 8.0-0 Nd4 9.f5 gxf5 10.Qh5 10.Bg5 f6! 11.Qh5+ Kd7 12.exf5 Nxc2 13.Rac1 Nd4 14.Ne4 Qf8 10...h6 11.Rf2 Be6 12.Be3 Qd7 13.Raf1 0-0-0 14.Nd5 6...Rb8 7.Nf3 b5 8.0-0 b4 9.Nd5 e6 10.Ne3 Nge7 11.a3! 7.Nf3 0-0 8.0-0 Rb8 9.h3 9.Nh4 Nd4 9...Bd7 10.f5! b5 11.Bg5! b4 12.Nd5 10.f5! b5 11.Bg5 b4 12.Ne2 Nxe2+ 13.Qxe2 Nd7 14.Rab1 Ne5 15.Qd2 a5 16.Bh6 Bd7 9...b5 9...Ne8 10.Bd2 b5 11.Rb1 e6 12.Qe1 Nd4 13.Nxd4! cxd4 14.Ne2 Qb6 15.a3 10.a3 10.g4 b4 11.Ne2 c4! 12.Be3 12.dxc4? Nxe4 12...Ba6 10...a5 11.Be3 11.g4 b4 12.axb4 axb4 13.Ne2 c4 14.Be3 cxd3 15.cxd3 Bb7 16.Qd2 Ra8 17.Ned4 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 Ba6 19.f5! 11...b4 12.axb4 axb4 13.Ne2 Bb7 ≤13...Bd7 14.g4 Ne8 15.Rb1 Nc7 16.Qe1 Nb5 17.Qf2 Ra8 18.f5 ≤13...Ne8 14.Rb1 Nc7 15.f5 Nb5 16.Qd2 Nbd4 17.Nh4 Nxe2+ 18.Qxe2 Ne5 19.Nf3 Nxf3+ 20.Qxf3 Bb7 21.h4 14.b3! 14.Qd2 Ra8 15.Rab1 Qa5! 16.b3 d5! ≤16...Rfc8 17.e5 d4 18.Bf2 Nd5 14...Ra8 15.Rc1! Ra2 16.g4 Qa8?! 16...Qa5 17.Qe1 Qb5 18.Qf2 Rfa8 16...e6 17.Qe1 Qa6? 17...d5 18.e5 Nd7 19.Qh4 e6 18.Qf2 18.Qh4?? Rxc2 18...Nxe4 19.dxe4 Qxe2 19.Rxc2 Qxd3-+ 18...Na7 18...d5 19.e5 d4 20.exf6 dxe3 21.Qxe3 Bxf6 22.Qxc5 18...e6 19.e5 Nd5 20.Bd2 20.exd6 Nxe3 21.Qxe3 Nd4 19.f5 Nb5 20.fxg6 hxg6 21.Ng5 Na3 22.Qh4 Rc8 23.Rxf6! exf6 24.Qh7+ Kf8 25.Nxf7‼ Rxc2 25...Kxf7 26.Bh6 Rg8 27.Nf4 d5 27...Rxc2 28.Rf1 g5 29.Bxg5! 29.Nh5 Rxg2+ 29...Qxd3 30.Nxf6+- 30.Kxg2 Qxd3 31.Nxf6+- 29...d5 29...fxg5 30.Nd5+ Ke8 31.Qxg8+ Kd7 32.Rf7+ 30.Nh5+- 28.e5! fxe5 29.Nxd5+- 26.Bh6! Rxc1+ 27.Nxc1 Kxf7 27...Bxh6 28.Nxh6 Ke8 29.Ng8! Rc7 29...Kf8 30.Ne7 Ke8 31.Nxg6 30.Qxc7 Kf8 31.Qd8+ Kg7 32.Nxf6 Kf7 33.Nh7 Kg7 33...Ke6 34.Qe8# 34.Qd7+ Kg8 35.Nf6+ Kf8 36.Qe8+ Kg7 37.Qe7+ Kh6 37...Kh8 38.Qf8# 38.Ng8# 28.Qxg7+ Ke8 29.g5! 29.e5! d5 30.exf6 Qe6 31.Qxb7 29...f5 29...fxg5 30.Bxg5 30.Qxg6+ Kd7 31.Qf7+ Kc6 32.exf5+ 32.exf5+ Kb6 33.Bxb7 Qxb7 34.Qxb7+ Kxb7 35.f6 1–0
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Spassky,B | - | Geller,E | - | 1–0 | 1968 | | Candidates qf Spassky-Geller +3-0=5 | 6 |
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At the 1969 World Championship match against Petrosian, Spassky also obtained a victory in the Sicilian in a deciding moment, which was as brilliant as it was important.
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Bc4 Qa5 8.Qd2 h6 9.Bxf6 Nxf6 10.0-0-0 e6 11.Rhe1!? Be7 11...b5? 12.Bb3 b4 13.Nd5! 11...Bd7!? 12.f4 0-0 13.Bb3 Re8 13...Bd7 14.Kb1 14.Kb1± Bf8 15.g4! Nxg4 15...e5!? 16.fxe5 dxe5 17.Nf5 Bxf5 18.gxf5 Rad8 19.Qg2 Qc7 20.Rxd8 Rxd8 21.Rg1 Kh8 22.Nd5± 16.Qg2 Nf6 17.Rg1 Bd7 18.f5 Kh8 18...exf5 19.Qg6! 19.exf5 b5? 19...Qe5! 20.Bxf7+! Kxf7 21.Nd5+- 19...Kh8 20.Bxf7 Nxe4!? 20...fxe4 21.Rdf1+- 21.Nd5! Re5 22.Nf3 18...e5 19.Nf3 18...Qe5 19.Nf3! Qc5 19...Qf4 20.Rd4 Bc6 20...exf5?! 21.e5 Ne4 22.Nd5 Qg4 23.Qf1 21.fxe6 fxe6 22.Nd5 20.Qh3 Kh8 20...exf5 21.Qxh6 Nxe4 22.Qh5+- 21.Ng5 Re7 22.Nxf7+! Rxf7 23.fxe6 Bc8 24.Ne2! Ne8 24...Nh7 25.Qg3 Rc7 26.Nf4 g5 27.Ng6+ Kg7 28.Nxf8 Kxf8 29.Rd5 Qb4 30.Rxd6+- 24...Rc7 25.Nf4 Be7 26.Ng6+ Kh7 27.e5 dxe5 28.Qf5 Kg8 29.Rd8++- 25.Qxh6+‼ gxh6 26.Rg8+ Kh7 27.exf7 Nc7 28.Rxf8 d5 29.Re8 Bg4 30.Rxd5 Qf2 31.Rxa8+- 19.Rdf1 Qd8?! 19...e5 20.Nde2! 20.Ne6?! fxe6 21.fxe6 Rxe6!= 21...Bxe6 22.Rxf6+- 22.Bxe6 Bxe6 23.Rxf6 gxf6 24.Qg6 Bc4 20...Re7 21.Rd1 Qb4 22.a3 Qb6 23.Nd5 Nxd5 24.Rxd5 f6 25.Rd3 19...Qe5!? 20.Nf3 Qf4 20...Qc5 21.h4 20...Qa5 21.fxe6 Bxe6 22.Bxe6 fxe6 23.e5 dxe5 24.Nh4± 21.Qh3 Qe3 22.Rg3 Qc5 23.Ng5 20.fxe6 fxe6 20...Bxe6 21.Nxe6 fxe6 22.Ne2 e5 23.Bf7+- 21.e5! dxe5 22.Ne4 Nh5 23.Qg6! exd4 23...Nf4 24.Rxf4! exf4 25.Nf3 Qb6 26.Rg5‼ Bc6 26...Qd8 27.Ne5+- 27.Nf6 Be4 28.Qxh6+‼+- 24.Ng5 24.Ng5 hxg5 25.Qxh5+ Kg8 26.Qf7+ Kh7 27.Rf3 1–0
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Spassky,B | - | Petrosian,T | - | 1–0 | 1969 | | World-ch26 Spassky-Petrosian +6-4=13 | 19 |
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Tigran Petrosian — World Champion from 1963 to 1969
Reykjavík 1972: The match against Fischer
No other World Champion was more infamous both inside and outside the chess world than Bobby Fischer. On this DVD, a team of experts shows you the winning techniques and strategies employed by the 11th World Champion.
Grandmaster Dorian Rogozenco delves into Fischer’s openings, and retraces the development of his repertoire. What variations did Fischer play, and what sources did he use to arm himself against the best Soviet players? Mihail Marin explains Fischer’s particular style and his special strategic talent in annotated games against Spassky, Taimanov and other greats. Karsten Müller is not just a leading international endgame expert, but also a true Fischer connoisseur.
Three years later, Spassky had to defend his title against Bobby Fischer in the legendary 1972 World Championship match in Reykjavík. The match made headlines all over the world and took an unusual course due to Fischer’s airs and graces. In the first game, Fischer captured a poisoned pawn in an even position and shortly afterwards lost his bishop. He could not hold the difficult ensuing endgame, and so Spassky took a 1-0 lead.

A legendary confrontation — Spassky versus Fischer, Reykjavík 1972 | Photo: Icelandic Chess Federation / Skáksamband Íslands
Fischer did not play the second game in protest against the allegedly overly loud cameras on stage and lost by forfeit — the competition was about to be abandoned, it seemed. But Fischer was persuaded to play the third game, when he defeated Spassky for the first time in his career. Including the first game of the 1972 match, the two had previously played six times against each other, with Spassky winning three and drawing three.
But after his victory in the third game, Fischer played as if unleashed, and scored 5½ points in the next seven games, which gave him a commanding 6½-3½ lead. If Spassky wanted to have any chance of turning the tide again, he needed a victory as quickly as possible. And that is exactly what he achieved in the eleventh game of the competition: as in the seventh game, Spassky went for the double-edged Poisoned Pawn variation in the Najdorf Sicilian, one of Fischer’s favourite variations. Fischer had analysed this provocative variation in detail and achieved a series of sensational victories with it before the match, but in the eleventh game Spassky upset the American with a surprising knight retreat — 14.Nb1. Fischer found no convincing answer and suffered one of the most crushing defeats of his entire career.
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6!? 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Nb3 Qa3 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Be2 h5 12.0-0 Nc6 13.Kh1 Bd7 14.Nb1! Qb4 15.Qe3 d5? 15...Ne7 16.a3 Qa4 16.exd5 Ne7 17.c4 Nf5 18.Qd3 h4? 18...exd5 19.Nc3 dxc4 20.Qe4+ Ne7 21.Nd5 Qd6 22.Bxc4 19.Bg4! Nd6 20.N1d2 f5 20...Rc8 21.a3 Qa4 22.dxe6 fxe6 23.Qg6+ Ke7 24.Rae1 h3 25.Nd4 hxg2+ 26.Kxg2 Rh6 27.Qg8 21.a3 Qb6 22.c5 Qb5 23.Qc3 fxg4 24.a4 h3 25.axb5 hxg2+ 26.Kxg2 Rh3 27.Qf6 Nf5 28.c6 Bc8 29.dxe6 fxe6 30.Rfe1 Be7 31.Rxe6 1–0
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Spassky,B | - | Fischer,R | 2785 | 1–0 | 1972 | | World-ch27 Fischer-Spassky +7-3=11 | 11 |
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Boris Spassky in Reykjavík, 1972 | Photo: Icelandic Chess Federation / Skáksamband Íslands
But Spassky was unable to win another game against Fischer in Reykjavík in the remainder of the match, and so the competition finally ended after 21 games with a 12½-8½ victory for the American. Fischer had become the eleventh World Champion in chess history.
Soviet Championship 1973
Fischer’s victory in Reykjavík upset the Soviet chess world, and the Soviet authorities did everything they could to recover from the defeat. Above all, they demanded commitment and dedication from their best players — and so the 1973 Soviet Championship turned out to be one of the strongest Soviet championships ever. Almost everyone who was anyone in Soviet chess took part.
Spassky was sanctioned after his defeat against Fischer. He was not allowed to travel abroad after the competition, despite having received numerous invitations to play attractive international tournaments. These sanctions, as Spassky later explained, led to a crisis — but he seemed to have overcome it at the 1973 Soviet Championships. Spassky won the championship with an 11½ out of 17 score, with Karpov, Petrosian, Polugaevsky, Korchnoi and Gennady Kuzmin trailing a full point behind. In this tournament, Spassky also collected brilliant victories against the Sicilian in important games:
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.Qe2 b5 10.0-0-0 Bb7 11.Rhe1 Be7 12.e5 dxe5 13.fxe5 Nd5 14.Bxe7 Nxc3 14...Nxe7 15.Bxb5 axb5 16.Ncxb5 Qb6 17.Nd6+ Kf8 18.Qf1 Nf5 19.N4xf5 Rxa2 19...exf5 20.Qc4! 20.Nc4 15.Qg4 15.bxc3 Kxe7 16.Qg4 Bd5 17.Be4 15...Nxd1 16.Nxe6 Qc6? 16...fxe6 17.Bd6 Qb6 18.Qxe6+ Kd8 19.Bf5 Bc6 20.Rxd1 17.Nxg7+ Kxe7 18.Qg5+ f6 18...Kf8 19.Nf5 Qg6 20.Qe7+ Kg8 21.e6! 19.exf6+ Kd8 20.f7+ Kc7 21.Qf4+ 1–0
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Spassky,B | - | Rashkovsky,N | - | 1–0 | 1973 | | URS-ch41 Final | 8 |
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Nbd7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.0-0-0 b5 10.Bd3 Bb7 11.Rhe1 Qb6 12.Nb3 b4 13.Na4 Qc7 14.Nd4 Be7 15.Qh3 Nc5?! 15...0-0-0 16.Nxc5 dxc5 17.Nxe6 fxe6 18.Bc4! Rd8 19.Qxe6 Rxd1+ 20.Rxd1 Rf8 21.Bxf6 Rxf6 22.Qg8+ Bf8 23.g3 Bc8 23...Bxe4 24.Re1 Qe7 25.Bd5 24.e5 Rb6 25.Qxh7 25.Rd8+ Kxd8 25...Qxd8 26.Qf7# 26.Qxf8+ Kd7 27.Qxg7+ Kd8 27...Kc6 28.Bd5+ 28.Qg8+ Kd7 29.Qxh7+ Kd8 30.Qh8+ Kd7 31.f5 Qd8 32.e6+ Kc7 33.Qg7+ Kd6 34.h4 25...Be6 26.Qg6+ Qf7 27.Qe4 Qc7 28.h4 Bxc4 29.Qxc4 Qc6 30.b3 g6 31.Qe2 Qe6 32.h5 Rb7 33.Qe4 Rg7 34.hxg6 Qxg6 35.f5 1–0
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Spassky,B | - | Tukmakov,V | - | 1–0 | 1973 | | URS-ch41 Final | 4 |
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The continuous stream of new ideas in the Sicilian makes 1..c5 the most popular answer to 1.e4. On this DVD I do give an introduction to the most important Sicilian systems.
Such games demonstrate the fact that Spassky continued to be one of the strongest players in the world even after his defeat against Fischer. But he never got to play another World Championship match. In 1974 he lost 4-7 to Karpov in the semifinals of the Candidates Tournament; in 1977 he lost 7½-10½ to Korchnoi in the final of the Candidates, in a match in which both sides outdid each other with bizarre behaviour; and in 1980 he was eliminated by Lajos Portisch already in the quarterfinals of the same event — albeit by the narrowest of margins. The match ended in a 7-7 draw after 14 games, but since Portisch had won more games with Black, he was declared the winner.
In 1985, 29 years after his debut in Amsterdam in 1956, Spassky took part in the Candidates Tournament once more in Montpellier and finished in sixth place. After that, Spassky no longer qualified for the Candidates competitions.
However, he remained a welcome guest at numerous top tournaments and team competitions. But by then Spassky lacked the great ambition which propelled him to immense success earlier in his career, and was often satisfied with a quick draw. When he wanted to play, though, he still managed to play beautiful games — even against the Sicilian.
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1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.Nge2 e5 7.Nd5 Nge7 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bf6 Bxf6 10.Nxf6+ Kf8 11.Nc3 Kg7 12.Nfd5 Be6 13.Ne3 Qd7 14.f4 exf4 15.gxf4 f5 16.Qd2 Rab8 17.0-0-0 b5 18.Rhg1 b4 19.exf5 Nxf5 20.Bxc6 Qxc6 21.Ncd5 Kf7 22.Rxg6! Kxg6 23.Nxf5 Kf7 24.Nfe7 Qb7? 24...Qd7 25.Qg2 Rhg8 25...Bxd5 26.Nxd5 Rhg8 27.Qf3 26.Qe4 Rg7? 26...Bxd5 27.Nxd5 Qd7 27.Re1 1–0
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Spassky,B | 2560 | Ostl,A | 2335 | 1–0 | 1990 | | Bundesliga 8990 | |
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At the 2005 Unzicker Gala in Mainz, Spassky scored a prestigious victory against the Sicilian, as he defeated an old rival of his: Viktor Korchnoi.
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1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 d6 6.g3 a6 7.Bg2 Bd7 8.Nb3 Nf6 9.0-0 Be7 10.f4 b5 11.a4 b4 12.Nb1 Rc8 13.a5 e5 14.Be3 Be6 15.N1d2 Rb8 16.f5 Bxb3 17.Nxb3 0-0 18.Re1 Qc8 19.Qf3 Bd8 20.Red1 Ne7 21.Rxd6 Qxc2 22.Qd1 Qxb2 23.Bc5 Rc8 24.Rd2 Qc3 25.Rc1 Rxc5 26.Rxc3 bxc3 27.Rxd8 c2 28.Rxf8+ Kxf8 29.Qd2 Rc8 30.Nc1 g6 31.fxg6 hxg6 32.Bh3 Rb8 33.Qxc2 Kg7 34.Nb3 Rb4 35.Nc5 Rb5 36.Qc3 Nc6 37.Ne6+ fxe6 38.Qxc6 Rb1+ 39.Kg2 Rb2+ 40.Kf3 Rb3+ 41.Ke2 Rb4 42.Kd3 Rd4+ 43.Ke3 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
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Spassky,B | 2548 | Kortschnoj,V | 2617 | 1–0 | 2005 | B80 | Mainz Unzicker Gala80 | 5 |
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Like Spassky, Korchnoi was born in Leningrad (though six years earlier, on 23 March 1931), so the two had been rivals during their childhood and early youth years.

Viktor Korchnoi at the 1985 Hoogovens Tournament | Photo: Rob Croes / Anefo
They faced each other for the first time in 1948 in Leningrad, and their last encounter was played in December 2009, in a 6-game match which took place in Elista. Spassky won the match by a 3½-2½ score (+2 =3 -1).

Graying with honour: Boris Spassky | Photo: Dagobert Kohlmeyer
Statistics
In total, the ChessBase Mega Database contains 290 games (not counting simultaneous exhibitions) with 1.e4 c5 in which Spassky had the white pieces. Spassky won 122 of these games, 145 ended in draws, and 23 times he suffered a defeat. An impressive record. If you replay even only a few of the best games in this collection, you might get to feel the magic of chess which captivated Spassky as a 9-year-old.
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