Spassky Hangs a Knight... Twice!

Spassky Hangs a Knight... Twice!

Avatar of novacek
| 5

Boris Spassky is a chess legend. Twice champion of the USSR and the tenth winner of the World Championship, he is perhaps most famous for his 'Match of the Century' against Bobby Fischer in Reykjavik in 1972. He was often described as having a 'Universal' style of play, meaning that he could fight in a wide range of positions. This is reflected in his opening choices; he tried out the King's Gambit against the world's best on multiple occasions, but was also at home on both sides of the Ruy Lopez or Sicilian Defence.

But you know all of this! I'm sure that what you actually came here to find out is how such a top-class player as Spassky hung a piece on two occasions, and why I would want to write about it. Have patience- we need to set the scene!

The 1956 USSR Championship was the twenty-third instalment of the competition and was held in Leningrad. It did not feature names such as Keres, Botvinnik, Petrosian, Smyslov or Geller- who had all taken part the year before- but the likes of Taimanov, Simagin, Korchnoi, and Averbakh still participated. We will see more from the latter in just a moment. Furthermore, Tal appeared in the tournament for the first time, and finished joint fifth.

After 17 rounds Spassky had accumulated 11.5 points so sat in first place, along with Mark Taimanov and Yuri Averbakh. This meant that the competition would be decided by a three-way play-off.

Spassky lost his first game against Taimanov as White:

And this brings us to our first game of interest. Needing a win to keep his hopes of winning the championship alive, Spassky tried the King's Indian against Yuri Averbakh and this position arose on the board after White's 16th move:

The opening has been a total disaster for Black. His position is in disarray and Black is probably already busted. Although his position doesn't inspire confidence at all, the tournament situation demands that Spassky is optimistic. Making 'good' moves won't cut it since White's advantage is so great. Black has to get creative.

Leaving the Knight en-prise was lauded as the "greatest move ever played" by some but scoffed at by others, including a certain Mark Taimanov, who summed up his feelings by saying "I would rather resign the game than make such a move". I will let you make up your own minds about that one.

Spassky vs Taimanov, 1973

Unfortunately for Spassky this swindle wasn't enough to clinch the crown and the tournament was eventually won by Taimanov.

For our second and final example we have to fast-forward eighteen years to the 1974 Candidates semi-final match, where Spassky faced a young Anatoly Karpov. This was the third game, with the first going to Spassky and the second ending in a draw.

The similarities between the two games are interesting: the game takes place in Leningrad, Spassky is playing as Black, he tries the King's Indian, gets into some opening difficulties and at some point in the game offers up a Knight. However, this time there is a difference: it's actually an okay move.

 

Once again, the story didn't end too well for Spassky- he lost the semi-final and Karpov went on to win the final. Fischer defaulted his title and Karpov became the twelfth world champion.

So- why did Spassky hang a knight on two occasions? I think both instances are very instructive. The first, because it is a great example of how to 'swindle' your way out of a lost position; don't shrivel up and die, make your opponent work! Secondly, the game against Karpov shows how to play against such a sacrifice- be calm and believe in your own position.

I hope you enjoyed the creativity and originality that Spassky had to offer in his play.