Page "Boris Spassky" Paragraph 27

In 1976, Spassky was obliged to return to the Interzonal stage, and finished in a tie for tenth place in Manila, well short of qualifying for the Candidates matches, but was nominated to play after Fischer declined his place.

Spassky won an exhibition match with Dutch grandmaster Jan Timman at Amsterdam 1977 by 4 – 2.

He triumphed in extra games in his quarterfinal Candidates ' match over Vlastimil Hort at Reykjavík 1977 by 8½ – 7½.

This match saw Spassky fall ill, exhaust all his available rest days while recovering ; then the healthy Hort used one of his own rest days, to allow Spassky more time to recover ; Spassky eventually won the match.