Boris Spassky, the tenth world champion of chess, has handed away, FIDE introduced on Friday. He was 88. He turned the world champion after defeating Tigran Petrosian after which famously misplaced within the Match of the Century in opposition to Bobby Fischer in 1972 at Iceland’s Reykjavík.
Spassky was a chess prodigy who went on to develop into a Grandmaster on the age of 18 and was often known as one of the gifted gamers of his era. He misplaced his first world championship battle in opposition to Petrosian at Moscow 1966. However within the subsequent world championship, he overcame Petrosian to earn the crown. He was a participant identified for his common enjoying fashion.
What was exceptional about him was that he performed for France in his latter years. Spassky performed seven instances on the Chess Olympiad for the Soviet workforce (between 1962 to 1978). Then in 1976, Spassky immigrated to France and have become a French citizen two years later. Then, he competed for France in three Olympiads (1984–1988). He turned a Russian citizen once more in 2013.
Tributes for Spassky
Everybody from Garry Kasparov to Susan Polgar posted wealthy tributes to the Soviet Union legend on his passing.
“Boris was by no means above befriending and mentoring the following era, particularly these of us who, like him, didn’t match comfortably into the Soviet machine. (He emigrated to France in 1976),” wrote Garry Kasparov on X. “His rise as a prodigy, conquest of the crown in opposition to the invincible Petrosian on the second try, and many years of elite play are too typically misplaced within the shadow of his dramatic title loss to Bobby Fischer in 1972 and the circus Fischer turned it into. However Spassky all the time wished to play, and he dealt with the scenario with spectacular dignity. Whereas his chess justified the ‘common’ label that regularly follows his identify, his aggressive gambiteering fashion produced numerous masterpieces.”
RIP Boris Vasilievich Spassky
One of the gifted gamers of his era, the tenth World Champion Boris Spassky has handed away on the age of 88.
Spassky was thought-about a chess prodigy. He attained the Grandmaster title on the age of 18 and made his debut within the… pic.twitter.com/zrZBePQeXg
— Worldwide Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) February 27, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
“I first met him in Cannes in 1986. We clicked and have become pals instantly and he invited he invited us to his residence in Paris for dinner. We had many extra memorable conversations at dinner through the years,” Susan Polgar posted. “Listed here are three of my many particular reminiscences of Boris: (1) Having each Boris and Bobby Fischer at our residence in Budapest in 1993 for dinner. The dialog was out of this world. It was an unbelievable spotlight! (2) Spending per week with Boris (and his then spouse Marina) and GM Lev Alburt in South Florida in 2003! We had many wonderful excursions, scrumptious dinner, and unimaginable conversations. (3) Having a Champions’ dinner with Boris, Anatoly Karpov and Nona Gaprindashvili in Dresden in 2008. We had plenty of enjoyable and mentioned many fascinating matters.”
Her sister, the legendary Judit Polgar posted: “He was not solely an exquisite champion, but additionally an enchanting persona. Anybody who met him will certainly keep in mind him – eternally. His character got here by way of in each attainable means, particularly together with his sense of humour, his good thoughts, his facial expressions. He turned to chess and life with nice curiosity. We will miss him. I’ll miss you, Boris.”
© IE On-line Media Providers Pvt Ltd
