Chess legend Boris Spasski is dead
The Russian chess legend Boris Spasski died at the age of 88. This was announced by the Russian Chess Association and the European Chess Union.
Chess legend and ex-world champion Boris Wassiljewitsch Spasski will be a guest at the World Cup in Schnell- und Blitzschach on October 10, 2015 in Berlin. Photo: Picture Alliance / Jörg Carstens
“We have gone a great personality, generations of chess players have learned from his games and work and are still learning. A big loss for the country, ”said the President of the Chess Association of Russia, Andrej Filatow.
Defeat made fun of fun world
Spasski was world champion from 1969 to 1972. His elegant style was praised, with which he won many spectacular victories. Only a defeat made the chess wholesaler world famous. In 1972 he lost the legendary century match against the American Bobby Fischer and thus also the World Cup title in the « Fight of the Systems » in 1972 in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik.
The American chess player Bobby Fischer (L) played in Sveti Stefan on the Montenegrin Adriatic coast in the Jugoslavia then against the Boris Spasski. Photo: Dagobert Kohlmeyer/dpa-centralbi
Spasski was born on January 30, 1937 in Leningrad (today St. Petersburg). In 1976 he emigrated to France. He only returned to his home country in 2012. After the death of Wassili Smyslow in 2010, Spasski was the oldest living chess world champion.
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