'Boris Spassky in critical condition'

Russian media report that Boris Spassky on Saturday suffered from a stroke and is in critical condition. Medics are said to have found the 10th World Champion lying on a bed in a semiconscious state. He was taken to hospital and doctors are said to be fighting for Spassky's life.

The Russian site Life News brings a worrisome report about Boris Spassky, which we translate here.

10th World Chess Champion was taken to a Moscow hospital in serious condition

Doctors are fighting for the life of International Grandmaster and Honored Master of Sports of the USSR Boris Spassky.

Last Saturday at about 11am the ambulance received a call on board from the Moscow apartment of the grandmaster. When the medics arrived, they found 73-year-old Boris Vasilievich lying on a bed in a semiconscious state. He has a paralyzed left side of the body - arm and leg.

The famous chess player was urgently hospitalized in the intensive care unit at the 13th city hospital.

The patient had a cerebrovascular accident - the clinic told Life News. His condition is serious and doctors are doing their best.

(...)

On October 1, 2006, Spassky also suffered a stroke, during a chess lecture in San Francisco. From this he recovered well. Last week he was a special guest at the Women Blitz Championship in Moscow, together with Nona Gaprindashvili and others, and Spassky suggested to organize matches between veterans and you talents. The news comes in an already dark year for chess, in which former legends Andrei Lilienthal, Vassily Smyslov and Bent Larsen passed away.