Russian chess grandmaster Spassky passed away at the age of 88

Emil Sutovsky, general director of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), informed Reuters on Thursday that Russian chess grandmaster Boris Spassky has passed away at the age of 88.

The 10th World Chess Champion, Spassky, who became a French citizen in 1978, held the title from 1969 to 1972 before losing it to American Bobby Fischer in Reykjavik in what became known as the “Match of the Century.”

Spassky demonstrated excellent sportsmanship by cheering Fischer after losing the sixth game in that Cold War match, which he lost 12.5-8.5 despite winning the first two.

Anatoly Karpov, a former world champion who defeated Spassky in the 1974 Candidates tournament semifinals, delivered a heartfelt homage.

“Boris Spassky and Jose Capablanca were my chess heroes. As Karpov told official news agency RIA, “Beating Spassky was the greatest of victories and, in a sense, defeating something inside me by beating my teacher.”

“Boris Spassky represented a whole chess era to me. Naturally, he gained the most notoriety for being the one who gave Bobby Fischer the title.

However, he had opportunities to win that game. Even though he lost by a significant amount, he wasted his chances while the odds were in his favor.

Spassky was the oldest chess champion still alive.

Generations of chess players have studied and continue to study the work and games of a great figure who has passed away. “This is a significant loss for the nation,” Andrei Filatov, president of the Russian Chess Federation, told the TASS news agency.

The Russian Chess Federation’s executive director, Alexander Tkachev, expressed how much the chess community mourned Spassky’s passing.

“Boris Vasilevich kept in touch with all of his loved ones while residing in Moscow… He wasn’t only someone I knew from novels. Talking to him was always interesting. “It’s difficult for me to talk about him leaving us because he was a very interesting storyteller,” Tkachev told the RIA news agency.

Spassky played chess in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris in the 1990s and represented France in three chess Olympiads in 1984, 1986, and 1988.

Following a decline in his health in the early 2000s, Spassky vanished from Paris in August 2012 and reappeared in Moscow in October of the same year.

My time in France had come to an end, so I wanted to go back to Russia. A new stage was about to begin. At the time, he said, “I realized it was time to go.”