Boris Spasskij

                                                                                         Grandmaster, he was world champion from 1969 to 1972 and eight-time gold medalist at the chess Olympics. He is known for having created the so-called challenge of the century with the American Robert James Fischer in the 1972 world title match.

Biography

Boris Spassky was born in Leningrad and learned to play chess at the age of five. In 1955, at the age of eighteen, he won the world junior championship in Antwerp (Belgium) and, thanks to his placement in the interzonal tournament in Gothenburg (Sweden), he qualified for the 1956 candidates' tournament, a result which earned him the title of great master. Chess training was interspersed with a lot of sporting activity. In his youth he was an excellent athlete: at the age of twenty he ran the 100 meter dash in 10 seconds and 4 tenths. He liked to take long walks alternating with runs in the fields and woods. He was also an excellent tennis and ping pong player. He graduated in physical education and was a teacher. Spassky was considered a well-rounded player and his "universal style" became a clear advantage that allowed him to beat many of the leading grandmasters. For example, in his match in the candidates' final (the match that determined who would challenge the reigning world champion) against the legendary tactician Mikhail Tal' (Tbilisi 1965), Spassky managed to bring the game to calm positions, avoiding the Tal's tactical strength. This led to his first world title fight against Tigran Petrosian in 1966. Spassky lost the bout, but earned the right to challenge Petrosian again three years later. Once again, the flexibility of Spassky's style was the key to victory against Petrosian in the 1969 world championship, where he adopted the latter's negative style. Spassky's reign as world champion lasted only three years, as he lost the title to the American Bobby Fischer (1972) in a match that went down in history as the "match of the century". The competition took place in Reykjavík, Iceland, at the height of the Cold War and was consequently seen as a symbol of the political confrontation between the USA and the USSR. Fischer won and Spassky returned home in disgrace. Spassky continued to play, winning several tournaments, including the 1973 Soviet Championship. In 1992, Fischer, after 20 years away from chess, re-emerged to stage a "20th century rematch" against Spassky in Montenegro and in Belgrade, a re-enactment of the 1972 world championship. At the time, Spassky was ranked 106th in the FIDE ranking and Fischer didn't even appear there (due to his twenty years of inactivity). This bout was essentially Spassky's last major challenge, and health problems prevented him from mounting a credible challenge. Following that revenge, on July 13, 2004, Robert Fischer was arrested at Tokyo's "Narita" airport by Japanese authorities on behalf of the United States of America, officially for an irregular passport. The fact is that the US government never forgave Fischer for having played the "revenge of the 20th century" in 1992 in the former Yugoslavia, then under a UN embargo. Boris Vasilyevich Spassky wrote an open letter to US President George W. Bush on August 10, 2004 in support of his colleague: "Mister President, in 1972 Bobby Fischer became a national hero. He defeated me in the world championship match in Reykjavík, defeating the army of great Soviet chess players. A single man defeated an entire army. Shortly thereafter, Fischer stopped playing. In this, he recalled the sad story of Paul Morphy who, at twenty-one years old, created an aura of legend around himself by defeating all the main European masters and unofficially winning the title of world champion. Then he stopped playing and his life ended tragically in New Orleans in 1884, when he was only forty-seven years old. In 1992, twenty years after Reykjavík, the miracle happened. Bobby reappeared and we played a match in Yugoslavia. However, at that time, a sanctions regime was in force against Yugoslavia that prevented American citizens from engaging in any type of activity in that country's territory. Bobby violated State Department regulations, and on December 15, 1992, the US District Court issued a warrant for his arrest. However, I have been a French citizen since 1998 and the government has not taken any action against me. Since July 13, 2004, Bobby has been held in Narita Airport Prison for violating immigration laws. The events were reported by the media. The law is the law, I don't doubt it, but Fischer's case is not an ordinary one. Bobby and I have been friends since 1960, when we won ex aequo at the Mar del Plata tournament. Bobby has a tormented personality, I noticed immediately: he is honest and altruistic, but absolutely antisocial. He does not adapt to everyone's way of life, he has a very high sense of justice and is not willing to compromise either with himself or with others. He is a person who almost always acts to his own disadvantage. I don't want to defend or justify Bobby Fischer. That's how he is. I would like to ask you for only one thing: grace, clemency. But if by any chance this is not possible, I would like to ask you this: please correct the mistake that François Mitterrand made in 1992. Bobby and I committed the same crime. So apply sanctions against me too: arrest me, put me in a cell with Bobby Fischer and give us a chessboard." Spassky suffered a heart attack in 2006 in San Francisco during a chess lesson, but later recovered. In fact, in 2007 he played a match against the great Hungarian master Lajos Portisch. In 2010 he was hospitalized in Moscow in intensive care due to another heart attack. His condition initially appeared critical, but he recovered after being transferred to a hospital in France.