Boris Spassky, chess grandmaster who played the ‘game of the century’, dies aged 88

Boris Spassky, the Soviet chess grandmaster famed for his part in the “game of the century”, died in Moscow on Thursday aged 88, the International Chess Federation has confirmed.

The former world number two was on the losing end of the legendary 1972 World Championship final, which saw American Bobby Fischer claim the title in a match billed as a Cold War showdown. 

Spassky was an “independent spirit and true chess artist,” who was “the first genuinely universal player”, excelling in complex and dynamic middlegame positions, according to the FIDE, chess’ international governing body.

The 1972 championship against Fischer was “one of the most iconic matches in chess history,” and “a symbol of rivalry between the United States and Soviet Union during the Cold War”, the federation added.

Fischer’s victory in that famous game, it said, “propelled chess into the mass media spotlight”.

While the American grandmaster was Jewish (though he later developed a penchant for antisemitic comments) Spassky’s background is murkier.

According to a 1992 Washington Post article about the match “Fischer’s mother, Regina, is Jewish, which makes him Jewish under Jewish law—automatically eligible for Israeli citizenship, for example” and “Spassky is also the son of a Jewish mother”.

Encyclopaedia Judaica also reported that Spassky’s mother was Jewish, as did books ranging from The Jewish World in Stamps (2002) to The Jewish Quiz Book (1979), although the latter incorrectly identifies Fischer’s father but not his mother as Jewish.

But David Edmonds and John Eidinow write in the 2004 book Bobby Fischer Goes to War that “Spassky has been widely described as half-Jewish. He told the present authors that there was no truth in this; he was mystified as to how it came to be reported.”

Whether or not Spassky was Jewish, he sparked outrage in Russia when he signed a 2005 petition demanding the nation “bans a number of Jewish organizations,” according to The Independent

“Spassky was among 5,000 Russians who put their name to a letter calling for a ban on all religious and national groups acting on the principles of the Shulchan Aruch, a repository of Jewish law originally written in the 1560s,” the paper reported at the time.

“The ‘Letter of 5,000,’ sent three weeks ago, branded Judaism ‘anti-Christian and inhumane’ and accused believers of ‘committing ritual murders.’”

The letter Spassky signed also referred to a “hidden campaign of genocide against the Russian people and their traditional society and values” and “was backed with quotes from antisemitic literature from the 19th century,” report added.

However, Spassky reportedly “tried to distance himself from the campaign” shortly after signing the letter.

While not denying signing the document, he did say: “The appearance of my name was a mistake. As a ‘Chess King,’ I have always tried to fortify and unite the multinational kingdom of chess, and not to cause division within it. I will remain faithful to that principle in my old age.”

Meanwhile the half-Jewish Russian grandmaster and former world champion Garry Kasparov, a vocal supporter of Israel and critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has shared his memories of Spassky.

“Boris was never above befriending and mentoring the next generation, especially those of us who, like him, didn’t fit comfortably into the Soviet machine,” Kasparov wrote.

“His rise as a prodigy, conquest of the crown against the invincible Petrosian on the second attempt and decades of elite play are too often lost in the shadow of his dramatic title loss to Bobby Fischer in 1972 and the circus Fischer turned it into,” Kasparov added.

“But Spassky always wanted to play, and he handled the situation with impressive dignity. While his chess justified the ‘universal’ label that frequently follows his name, his aggressive gambiteering style produced countless masterpieces.”