Korchnoi-Spassky ends in 4-4
He hadn't played a classical game of chess since 2002, so Boris Spassky needed a few games to get warm. In the second half of his match against Viktor Korchnoi he played much better, beating his opponent in games 5 and 7. In game 6 he was also better but blundered terribly. The two legends ended their match yesterday with a quick draw.Photo © Official siteThe match between 10th World Champion Boris Spassky and former World Championship contender Viktor Korchnoi was the final event in the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the union between Kalmykia and Russia. The two played a total of eight games in Elista from December 17th until 27th, for a prize fund of US$ 20,000. The time control was 90 minutes + 30 seconds per move.Games 5-8
The second half of the match was very different from the first, and it was Boris Spassky who dominated in games 5, 6 and 7. In the first encounter after the rest day the 10th World Champion crushed his opponent with the black pieces in just 26 moves. In an English Opening that quickly became a reversed Taimanov Sicilan, Spassky played aggressively with ...f5 and ...g5. To avoid an avalanch of pawns on the kingside Korchnoi sacrificed a piece, but with less space he kept on struggling to find good squares for his remaining arsenal. Three strong black minor pieces decided the game quickly.Then, in game 6, Spassky again reached a promising position. From a modest Four Knights he manoeuvred strongly in the middlegame, creating a passed d-pawn by tactical means. However, in what looks like timetrouble, he first dropped a pawn and then bigger material in just two moves - a pity.Also in game 7 Spassky outplayed Korchnoi in the early middlegame - a nice knight manoeuvre on move 21 and 22 yielded the bishop pair. It's not clear whether Black's advantage in the ending was enough to win the game, but his position was clearly easier to play. After a few inaccuracies Korchnoi lost a pawn, and then forgot about the clock and lost on time ("for the third time already this year!" he lamented during the press conference). Spassky had levelled the score again.After all this excitement the two legends had seen enough, and they agreed a draw after 11 moves in the last game. A quick draw in a Petroff - normally something we'd disapprove of, but in this case fully deserved. The job was done, the crowd finished cheering. As I'm typing this, I'm watching Bruce Springsteen and Bono singing I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, because 25th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is on Dutch TV. Two fantastic performers together on one stage, doing what they do best. It was a similar pleasure to see Korchnoi and especially Spassky at the chess board facing and fighting each other again, like in their best days.Match score
Games 5-8
Game viewer by ChessTempoLinks
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
Peter's first book The Chess Revolution is out now!
Company Contact and News Accreditation:
Email: peter@chess.com FOR SUPPORT PLEASE USE chess.com/support!
Phone: 1 (800) 318-2827
Address: 877 E 1200 S #970397, Orem, UT 84097
