Universal Soldier: Chess Edition

If you are wondering why I would talk about the blockbuster movie from the 1990s on a chess website, don't worry. This article is about the tenth World Champion, Boris Spassky, who passed away on February 27.

While I saw Spassky on numerous occasions, I never had an opportunity to talk to him besides polite greetings. However, I enjoyed GM Mikhail Botvinnik's stories about Spassky when I was a student at his school.

Generally speaking, Botvinnik didn't approve of Spassky's lifestyle. He said that Spassky didn't work much on chess and achieved great results mostly due to his enormous talent. By the way, Spassky frequently called himself "lazy," indirectly confirming Botvinnik's criticism.

Also, the Patriarch thought that Spassky was too materialistic, and because of this, his chess results quickly declined after he moved to France. I don't know if Botvinnik's strong opinions were caused by his political views: as a lifelong proponent of communist ideology, Botvinnik couldn't accept Spassky's decision to leave the Soviet Union for capitalist France.

Or it could be just plain, old-fashioned jealousy, as Botvinnik regularly mentioned that Spassky got ten times more money for just one match that he lost to Fisher than Botvinnik earned for all his World Championship matches combined.

Kasparov never interrupted his mentor but mentioned that after that match in 1972, Spassky had everything an ordinary Soviet citizen could only dream about. There was one problem, though: he couldn't buy a helicopter since it was impossible in the Soviet Union, so he left for France. We all laughed at this joke, but to this day, I am not completely sure if it really was a joke.

Regardless of what Botvinnik said about Spassky as a person, whenever he talked about Spassky's chess, we could clearly see an enormous amount of respect. I remember Botvinnik's advice: If you want to learn how to attack, then you should study Tal's games; if you want to learn how to defend, then you should study Petrosian's game, but if you want to learn how to play any position and become a universal player then you should study Spassky's games.

Today, I would like to demonstrate examples of the rich heritage of the tenth World Champion. These games are excellent examples of chess strategy and tactics.

1) Central breakthrough

You might have heard the famous words of Aron Nimzowitsch, who said that an isolated pawn, just like a dangerous criminal, should be put in jail where it cannot move freely. This means you need to blockade it by putting a piece in front of such a pawn. It is not enough just to watch and monitor it. The following game is excellent proof of this concept by 12-year-old Spassky.

 2) Kingside attack against a fianchettoed bishop.

We all know the routine: h4-h5-hxg6, open the 'h' file, checkmate. Here is how Spassky did it:

3) The art of counterattacking

Spassky liked to play opening variations that were not popular at the time. Closed variation of the Sicilian Defense, Tarrasch Defense in the Queen's Gambit, Leningrad variation of the Nimzo-Indian, Marshall Counterattack in the Ruy Lopez, King's Gambit, etc.

Some of these lines became very popular thanks to Spassky: the Marshall counterattack is a good example. But in some cases, his offbeat opening lines lead to a difficult situation where Spassky's opponents had a dangerous initiative. In such situations, Spassky demonstrated his extraordinary ability to cook up a counterattack. The following game against the young, up-and-coming World Junior Champion is a very good example:

The following game is well known. When Spassky found himself in a strategically lost position, he played an insane-looking move to change the path of the game. As GM Mark Taimanov commented: "For me it would be easier to just resign than to play such a move!"

4) Defense

When Spassky had to defend his king against a direct attack, his calculating skills came in very handy. The following game is very impressive. White pieces were swarming around the black king, and it looked like his days were numbered. Besides, it was Mikhail "the Magician" Tal who was playing White. Nevertheless, the defense triumphed!

5) Combinations

You can write books about beautiful combinations from Spassky's games. In this article, let me show you just three. The first two are probably Spassky's most famous combinations.

The last one is simple but very elegant. Try to find it on your own—I guarantee you'll enjoy it!

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate the wise words of Botvinnik: if you want to become a good player overall, then study the games of Boris Spassky!