Boris Spassky is considered by many to be the most talented of all world champions. The great chess talent of the nine-year-old Spassky was discovered at the local Pioneer Palace (St. Petersburg) and encouraged by coaches such as Vladimir Zak. In 1953, the World Chess Federation named the 16-year-old an International Master, and in 1955 a Grand Master, after Spassky had achieved 2nd to 6th place in the USSR Championship and won the World Youth Championship U20. In 1964 he qualified for the Candidates Tournament in the Interzonal Tournament and became the challenger to World Champion Petrosian in 1966.
However, Spassky was only able to defeat him at the second attempt in 1969 and thus became the 10th world chess champion. In 1972, Spassky had to defend his title in a nerve-wracking match against Bobby Fischer. With great patience, Spassky endured all of his challenger’s antics, but lost the match and the title. In 1976, Boris Spassky emigrated to France with his wife and lived in Paris for a long time. He only returned to Russia in later years. In the 1974, 1977 and 1980 World Championship cycles, Spassky again took part in the candidate matches, but was no longer able to qualify as a challenger. In 1992, there was a sensational rematch against Bobby Fischer in Yugoslavia, which Spassky also lost.
At his best, Boris Spassky cultivated a rousing attacking style, with a preference for aggressive openings such as the King’s Gambit. But he also played the other phases of the game like a world champion.
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