Top 10 Interesting Facts about Boris Spassky

Photo by Herbert Behrens / Anefo from Wikimedia

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Boris Spassky

Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Russian chess grandmaster. Born on 30^th January 1937, he was the World Chess Champion from 1969 to 1972.

Spassky was born in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) in the former Soviet Union. His parents were Vasili Vladimirovich Spassky, who was in the military, and Ekaterina Petrovna Spasskaya who was a school teacher.

Boris Spassky was one of the greatest chess players in the world, his skills and tactical strength on the chess board were matched by only a few.

Here are the top 10 interesting facts about him

1.  Learned to Play Chess at the age of 5 years

Boris Spassky’s first contact with the game of chess was on a train evacuating him  during the siege of Leningrad  by the German Soldiers in 1942,

Spassky was 5 years old when he learned how to play chess in a children’s home where he took refuge during  World War 2.

He was a classic child prodigy in chess at the age of ten years and attained nationwide recognition after defeating Soviet champion Mikhail Botvinnik in an exhibition match held in Leningrad

2. Boris Spassky attained Grandmaster Title at the age of 18 years

Photo from Joop van Bilsen / Anefo from Wikipedia

Boris Spassky was eighteen years old when he won the world junior chess championship in 1955. He was awarded the chess grandmaster title.

He set a new world record as the youngest person to win the chess grandmaster title at the age of 18 years. The previous record was held by David Lonovich Bronstein who had won it at the age of twenty-six years.

3.  Boris Spassky was trained by the best Chess Coaches

As the saying goes, behind every good chess player, there is an equally good trainer. Boris Spassky was trained by the very best chess coaches there were in Russia.

Spassky’s first coach and mentor from an early age were Alexander Tolush. He was a Soviet chess grandmaster who had won the title of International Master in 1950. He guided Spassky to his world junior chess title in 1955.

After a sharp decline in his performances, Spassky hired Igor Bondarevsky as his new coach. He was a former Russian chess title champion and a calmer strategist; he guided Spassky to his first chess world champion title.

4. Boris Spassky won the World Chess Champion Title

photo by Hans van Dijk for Anefo from Wikimedia

Boris Spassky won his first world chess champion title in 1969, after beating the world champion Tigran Petrosian in the finals. He was the tenth world chess champion.

Tigran Petrosian was the greatest chess player in the 1960s; he had held the world chess champion title from 1963 to 1969.

Spassky held the world chess champion title from 1969 to 1972. He lost the title to an American Bobby Fischer in 1972.

5. Boris Spassky Married Three Times

Boris Spassky married his first wife Nadezda Latyntceva in 1959. Their marriage ended two years later in 1961. The couple had one child together.

Spassky married his second wife Larisa Zakharovna Solovyova in 1967; the marriage lasted for four years. The couple had one kid together and ended their marriage in 1974.

He married his third wife Marina Yurievna, a former Russian war general and a granddaughter of the white movement activist Dmitry shcevbachev.

6. Boris Spassky Challenged the Soviet Chess Champion at the age of Ten

Spassky first drew wide attention in 1947 at age 10. He challenged and defeated the Soviet chess champion Mikhail Botvinnik in a simultaneous exhibition in Leningrad.

Mikhail Botvinnik was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer, computer scientist, and a pioneer in computer chess.

Botvinnik was the first world-class player to develop within the Soviet Union. He also played a major role in the organization of the world chess championship. He died in 1995 aged 83 years.

7. Boris Spassky was an all-rounder on the Chess Board

Photo by Anefo from Wikipedia

Bori Spassky was an all-rounder on the chess board, his adaptability in the game was a distinct advantage in beating top chess grandmasters.

He often managed to steer his play into quieter positions, either avoiding his competitor’s tactical strength or exacting too high a price for complications.

Spassky was a very intelligent and talented chess player; his ability to read the game and to change his tactics as the play progressed dis-oriented his competitors.

 8. Boris Spassky Acquired French citizenship

Spassky and his wife Marina moved from Russia and went to live in France In 1976. He later applied for and acquired  French citizenship in 1978.

Spassky lived with his wife in Meudon near Paris. He represented France in the Chess Olympiad in 1978.

In the following years, Spassky showed little interest in competitive chess matches.  But he occasionally participated in exhibition matches.

Spassky relocated back to Russia in 2012, a few years after he suffered a serious stroke. He now lives in Moscow but still remains a French citizen.

9.  Boris Spassky Suffered Stroke Twice

Photo by Juerg Vollmer / Maiakinfo from Wikipedia

During a chess lecture tour in San Francisco On October 1, 2006, Spassky then aged sixty-nine years Old suffered a minor stroke. He fully recovered without any permanent damage.

On September 23, 2010, Spassky suffered a more serious stroke that left him paralyzed on his left side. He went through a long rehabilitation program in France after being discharged from the hospital.

He later left Paris and traveled to Moscow where he now lives.

10. Boris Spassky Awards and Achievements

Boris Spassky won the world junior chess championship in 1955 and was awarded the chess grandmaster title. He was the youngest chess grandmaster from 1955 to 1958.

Spassky also won the world chess champion title in 1969 and became the tenth world chess champion. A  title he held until 1972 when he lost to Bobby Fischer.

The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013.

Boris Spassky is on the list of most popular Chess players.  He is also ranked in the elite list of famous celebrities born in Russia.