Chess master Boris Spasski died at the age of 88. This was announced by the Russian association on Thursday (February 27, 2025). Spasski was the tenth chess champion from 1969 to 1972 before losing his much attention with the American Bobby Fischer during the Cold War.
“We have gone a great personality, generations of chess players have studied his games and work and still study it. That is a big loss for the country”the president of the Russian chess association, Andrei Filatow, was quoted by the state news agency TASS.
No information became known for the circumstances of death. In 2006 and 2010 Spasski had suffered two strokes. After more than 30 years in France, he has lived in Moscow since 2012.
“The Dam Gambit” made Spasski even more famous
Spasski had achieved celebrity in particular because of his encounter with Fischer. This duel in the middle of the Cold War was a template for numerous books, documentation and films. The novel “Das Damengambit” also deals with it, in 2020 a Netflix series was published on its basis.
Spasski had gone into the duel with Fischer as a clear favorite. The then Soviet Union had dominated the chess game, from the Spasski, born in today’s Saint Petersburg, a clear victory was expected. Instead, despite the initial leadership, there was a defeat that was a slap in the face for Moscow. However, Spasski later admitted that he felt great relief, this “enormous responsibility” to be going.
His extraordinary talent had already been visible at its early days. At the age of 18, Spasski became a junior world champion and the youngest grand master in history at the time.