Boris Spassky was the tenth World Chess Champion from 1969-1967. He is a successful Soviet-French grandmaster known for his flexible playing style. On seven separate occasions Spassky was a World Chess Championship candidate.
At ten years-old Spassky defeated Soviet champion Mikhail Botvinnik. Vladimir Zak, a master and trainer of chess, became young Spassky’s mentor. He became the youngest ever Soviet player to achieve first category rank, candidate master rank, and Soviet master rank (ten, eleven, and fifteen respectively).
At sixteen Spassky was awarded the title of International Master by FIDE, showing his skill at a tournament in Bucharest, Romania. Spassky shared 7th-9th place at the 1955 Goteborg Interzonal, allowing him to play in the 1956 Candidates Tournament. The match also earned him his grandmaster title, making him the youngest-ever chess grandmaster.
The events that would have qualified him for a world championship did not prove successful for Spassky. The following two Interzonals left Spassky defeated, losing him that necessary foothold to earn his way into the World Chess Championship. His following games became increasingly tumultuous. In the 1957 Soviet final, Spassky tied in 4th-5th under Mikhail Tal. With Tal, Spassky held the advantage through most of the game, but still failed and declined a draw. Spassky nearly won at the next Soviet final, but finished only half a point behind Tigran Petrosian. Spassky suffered losses and frequently found himself placing in the middle of many tournaments.
It was then that Spassky turned down his current trainer, Tolush to train beneath Igor Bondarevsky. Spassky preferred Bondarevsky’s calm strategy to Tolush’s aggressive methods. This proved a good choice for Spassky’s success. He won one USSR Championship in 1961 and shared 2nd-3rd at Havana one year later. Spassky moved on to win in 1964 at Belgrade, placing him ahead of Korchnoi and Borislav Ivkov.
Bondarevsky refined Spassky’s style and swept away his flaws. Spassky broadened his style with these teachings, and emerged a better player because of it. Spassky won the Soviet Zonal in 1964, moving him on to the Amsterdam Interzonal. Here, he tied for 1st-4th, allowing him to continue on to the Candidates’ matches.
The chess world considered Spassky to be a very flexible player, adapting to any play style with his “universal style” and caused him to hold a clear advantage over many top grandmasters. With his refined strategy he won by 7-4 in the Candidates’ Final match, defeating his previous adversary Mikhail Tal.
Spassky moved on to defeat Petrosian and held the World Champion title for three years. While Spassky later decided to play chess only on occasion, leaving his perseverance of ranks behind, he will always be known as an amazingly versatile chess player.
Very short game, however 14…Rh1 us a very hard move to find. Enjoy!
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