Boris Spassky

Biography

biography of great chess players

Boris Spassky was born in Leningrad in 1937 and learned to play chess at the age of five. He was a child chess prodigy and earned widespread acclaim at the age of 10 when he defeated the then reigning Soviet champion, Mikhail Botvinnik, in an exhibition match.

He went on to emphatically win the World Junior Chess Championship in 1955, at the age of 18, and became the youngest grandmaster ever at that time.

However, his subsequent game results were unspectacular, perhaps because expectations were high and he felt under undue pressure.

In 1961, following a change of trainer, results finally began to improve, and he won the USSR Chess Championship for the first time in 1961.

Spassky developed a very flexible and adaptable style of chess play and was generally considered an all-rounder on the chess board. It is believed that this style of play allowed him to beat many different types of grandmasters.

After a few failed attempts, he finally became the World Chess Champion in 1969, defeating Petrosian, the then reigning champion, by two points. He was the World Chess Champion from 1969 to 1972, when he was defeated by Bobby Fischer from the United States in the so-called "Match of the Century". This match took place during the height of the cold war and was seen as symbolic of the political confrontation between the two super-powers.

He won the USSR Chess Championship again in 1973.

In 1978, he became a French citizen and continued to play occasional chess games, although his best years were undoubtably during his youth in the 1950's, and the late 1960's when he first became World Chess Champion.