54 Facts About Boris Spassky

Boris Spassky won the Soviet Chess Championship twice outright, and twice lost in playoffs, after tying for first place during the event proper.

Boris Spassky was a World Chess Championship candidate on seven occasions.

Boris Spassky immigrated to France in 1976, becoming a French citizen in 1978.

Boris Spassky continued to compete in tournaments but was no longer a major contender for the world title.

Boris Spassky was born in Leningrad to Russian parents.

Boris Spassky came from the family of Vladimir Alexandrovich Spassky, a prominent Russian Orthodox priest of the Kursk Governorate, later a protoiereus of the Russian Church, as well as a State Duma deputy and an active member of the Union of the Russian People.

Boris Spassky' mother Ekaterina Petrovna Spasskaya was a school teacher.

Boris Spassky was born in the Ryadnevo village of the Gdov district as an illegitimate daughter of Daria Ivanovna Ivanova and Andrei Kupriyanovich Kupriyanov, a landlord who owned houses in Saint Petersburg and Pskov.

Boris Spassky learned to play chess at the age of 5 on a train evacuating from Leningrad during the siege of Leningrad in World War II.

Boris Spassky first drew wide attention in 1947 at age 10, when he defeated Soviet champion Mikhail Botvinnik in a simultaneous exhibition in Leningrad.

Boris Spassky set records as the youngest Soviet player to achieve first category rank, candidate master rank, and Soviet Master rank.

In 1952, at 15, Boris Spassky scored 50 percent in the Soviet Championship semi-final at Riga, and placed second in the Leningrad Championship that same year, being highly praised by Botvinnik.

Boris Spassky has beaten six undisputed World Champions at least twice : Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Bobby Fischer, Anatoly Karpov, and Garry Kasparov.

Boris Spassky then tied for first in a semifinal for the 24th Soviet championship, thereby qualifying.

Boris Spassky then went into a slump in world championship qualifying events, failing to advance to the next two Interzonals, a prerequisite to earn the right to play for the world championship.

Boris Spassky had the advantage for much of the game, but missed a difficult win after adjournment, then declined a draw.

Boris Spassky played on board one for the USSR at the 7th Student Olympiad in Leningrad, where he won the silver, but lost the gold to William Lombardy, losing their individual encounter.

Boris Spassky decided upon a switch in trainers, from the volatile attacker Alexander Tolush to the calmer strategist Igor Bondarevsky.

At Leningrad 1963, the site of the 31st Soviet final, Boris Spassky tied for first with Stein and Ratmir Kholmov, with Stein winning the playoff, which was held in 1964.

Boris Spassky added psychology and surprise to his quiver, and this proved enough to eventually propel him to the top.

Boris Spassky was considered an all-rounder on the chess board, and his adaptable "universal style" was a distinct advantage in beating many top grandmasters.

Boris Spassky won two tournaments in the run-up to the final.

Boris Spassky lost a keenly fought match to Petrosian in Moscow, with three wins against Petrosian's four, with seventeen draws, though the last of his three victories came only in the twenty-third game, after Petrosian had ensured his retention of the title, the first outright match victory for a reigning champion since the latter of Alekhine's successful defences against Bogoljubov in 1934.

The final was against his Leningrad rival Korchnoi at Kyiv, and Boris Spassky triumphed, which earned him another match with Petrosian.

Boris Spassky shared first with Hans Ree at the 1971 Canadian Open in Vancouver.

Boris Spassky accommodated many demands by Fischer, including moving the third game into a side room.

In two games, for example, Boris Spassky overlooked a one-move combination.

Boris Spassky's play lacked brilliance, but his defense was excellent.

Boris Spassky finished in fourth place at the annual IBM tournament held in Amsterdam, one point behind winners Petrosian and Albin Planinc.

In 1976, Boris Spassky was obliged to return to the Interzonal stage, and finished in a tie for tenth place in Manila, well short of qualifying for the Candidates matches, but was nominated to play after Fischer declined his place.

Boris Spassky, as losing finalist, was seeded into the 1980 Candidates' matches, and faced Portisch again, with this match held in Mexico.

The 1985 Candidates' event was held as a round-robin tournament at Montpellier, France, and Boris Spassky was nominated as an organizer's choice.

Boris Spassky played five times for the USSR in Student Olympiads, winning eight medals.

Boris Spassky played twice for the USSR in the European Team Championships, winning four gold medals.

Boris Spassky played board one in the USSR vs Rest of the World match at Belgrade 1970, scoring against Larsen.

Boris Spassky then represented France in three Olympiads, on board one in each case.

In 1976, Boris Spassky immigrated to France with his third wife; he became a French citizen in 1978, and has competed for France in the Chess Olympiads.

Boris Spassky later lived with his wife in Meudon near Paris.

Boris Spassky did score some notable triumphs in his later years.

Boris Spassky finished equal first at the Plaza tournament in the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts at Wellington in 1988, with Chandler and Eduard Gufeld.

Boris Spassky participated in three of the six events of the World Cup.

In 1992, Bobby Fischer, after a twenty-year hiatus from chess, re-emerged to arrange a "Revenge Match of the 20th century" against Boris Spassky in Montenegro and Belgrade; this was a rematch of the 1972 World Championship.

At the time, Boris Spassky was rated 106th in the FIDE rankings, and Fischer did not appear on the list at all, owing to his inactivity.

Boris Spassky continued to play occasional events through much of the 1990s, such as the Veterans vs Women match in Prague, 1995.

On October 1,2006, Boris Spassky suffered a minor stroke during a chess lecture in San Francisco.

On September 23,2010, ChessBase reported that Boris Spassky had suffered a more serious stroke that had left him paralyzed on his left side.

Boris Spassky said he had "the very brightest memories" of Mikhail Tal and told an anecdote from the 15th Chess Olympiad about Soviet analysis of an adjourned game between Fischer and Botvinnik.

Boris Spassky applauded Fischer in Game 6 of their 1972 match, and defended Fischer when the latter was detained near Narita Airport in 2004.

Boris Spassky has been described by many as a universal player.

Boris Spassky succeeded with a wide variety of openings, including the King's Gambit, 1.

Boris Spassky was played by Liev Schreiber in the 2014 film Pawn Sacrifice.

Boris Spassky's younger sister Iraida Spasskaya was born on November 6,1944 and is a four-time champion of the Soviet Union in Russian draughts and the world vice-champion in international draughts.

In 2005 Boris Spassky signed the Letter of 5000 addressed to the Prosecutor General of Russia, along with Igor Shafarevich, Vyacheslav Klykov, Vasily Belov and other activists.

In 2006, Boris Spassky described himself as an Orthodox Christian, a monarchist and a Russian nationalist.