Karpov was on record saying that he believed Spassky would easily beat him and win the Candidates ' cycle to face Fischer, and that he ( Karpov ) would win the following Candidates ' cycle in 1977.

Garry Kasparov argued that Karpov would have had good chances, because he had beaten Spassky convincingly and was a new breed of tough professional, and indeed had higher quality games, while Fischer had been inactive for three years.

* 1972 – The first game of the World Chess Championship 1972 between challenger Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky starts.

* 1972 – In Reykjavík, Iceland, American Bobby Fischer beats Russian Boris Spassky to become the world chess champion.

Spassky defeated Tigran Petrosian in 1969 to become World Champion, then lost the title in the Fischer – Spassky match in 1972 – one of the most famous chess matches in history.

Spassky travelled to Argentina, where he shared first place with Bobby Fischer, two points ahead of Bronstein, at Mar del Plata 1960 on 13½ / 15, defeating Fischer in their first career meeting.

Spassky then finished ahead of Petrosian and a super-class field at Santa Monica 1966 ( the Piatigorsky Cup ), with 11½ / 18, half a point ahead of Bobby Fischer, as he overcame the American grandmaster's challenge after Fischer had scored 3½ / 9 in the first cycle of the event.

Spassky accommodated many demands by Fischer, including moving the third game into a side room.

The Fischer vs Spassky World championship was the most widely covered chess match in history, as mainstream media throughout the world covered the match.

Going into the match, Fischer had never won a game from Spassky in five attempts, losing three.

In addition, Spassky had secured Geller as his coach, who also had a plus score against Fischer.

Before Spassky, Mark Taimanov, Larsen, and Petrosian, had lost convincingly to Fischer, but Spassky maintained his composure and competitiveness.

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.

In 1992, Bobby Fischer, after a twenty-year hiatus from chess, re-emerged to arrange a " Revenge Match of the 20th century " against Spassky in Montenegro and Belgrade ; this was a rematch of the 1972 World Championship.

At the time, Spassky was rated 106th in the FIDE rankings, and Fischer did not appear on the list at all, owing to his inactivity.

Some might suggest his preparation was largely bypassed by Fischer, but the match saw several important novelties by Spassky.

Instead, Fischer was an incredible player in 1972, having won an unprecedented 20 games in a row, and Spassky probably showed he was number 2, and the match saw many enjoyable games.

* Boris Spassky vs Robert Fischer, Santa Monica 1966, Grunfeld Defence, Exchange Variation ( D87 ), 1 – 0 Fischer seems to equalize in a sharp game, but he makes a small mistake and Spassky finishes nicely.

A win would have qualified Spassky for the Interzonal, and a draw would have ensured a share of fourth place with Yuri Averbakh, with qualification possible via a playoff.

However, Spassky would defeat Efim Geller, Bent Larsen and Viktor Korchnoi in the next candidates cycle earning a rematch with Petrosian, at Moscow 1969.

Boris Spassky, who would succeed Petrosian as World Chess Champion, described his style of play as such: " Petrosian reminds me of a hedgehog.

Edmar Mednis observes that if Spassky had lost the game, the move would likely have been given two question marks instead.

Spassky ( a noted chess gentleman in his own right ) did so and went on to win the match by the narrowest possible margin, eliminating Hort from that Candidates cycle but ensuring that he would be remembered by chess fans for his gallantry.

Polgár is the only woman to have won a game from a current world number one player, and has defeated nine current or former world champions in either rapid or classical chess: Anatoli Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Boris Spassky, Vasily Smyslov, Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand, Ruslan Ponomariov, Alexander Khalifman, and Rustam Kasimdzhanov.

The opening has never been popular at the top level, though a number of prominent players have employed it on occasion ( for example, Richard Réti against Abraham Speijer in Scheveningen 1923 and Boris Spassky against Vasily Smyslov in the 1960 Moscow – Leningrad match ).

World champions Mikhail Botvinnik, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov have all played this variation.

However, few players have beaten six world champions ( Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Spassky, and Anatoly Karpov ) as Taimanov has.

Many commentators, particularly from the USSR, have suggested that all this ( and his continuing demands and unreasonableness ) was part of Fischer's plan to " psych out " Spassky.

Federal subjects of Russia which have an entity called Spassky District

Many World Champions have visited the chess room from Emanuel Lasker in 1902 to Boris Spassky in 2006.

Spassky won the first game as Black in good style, but tenacious, aggressive play from Karpov secured him overall victory by + 4 − 1 = 6.

Spassky won the Soviet Chess Championship twice outright ( 1961, 1973 ), and twice lost in playoffs ( 1956, 1963 ), after tying for first place during the event proper.

Spassky made his international debut in 1953, aged sixteen, in Bucharest, Romania, finishing equal fourth with Laszlo Szabo on 12 / 19, an event won by his trainer, Alexander Tolush.

At the 23rd Soviet final, held in Leningrad in January – February 1956, Spassky shared first place on 11½ / 19, with Mark Taimanov and Yuri Averbakh, but Taimanov won the subsequent playoff to become champion, defeating Spassky in both their games.

In the 24th Soviet final, played at Moscow in January – February 1957, Spassky shared fourth place with Tolush, as both scored 13 / 21, while Mikhail Tal won the first of his six Soviet titles, which began his ascent to the world title in 1960.

Another disappointment for Spassky came at the qualifier for the next Interzonal, the Soviet final, played in Moscow 1961, where he again lost a crucial last-round game, this to Leonid Stein, who thus qualified, as Spassky finished equal fifth with 11 / 19, while Petrosian won.

Spassky won at Belgrade 1964 with an undefeated 13 / 17, as Korchnoi and Borislav Ivkov shared second place with 11½.

In the 1964 Soviet Zonal at Moscow, a seven-player double round-robin event, Spassky won with 7 / 12, overcoming a start of one draw and two losses, to advance to the Amsterdam Interzonal the same year.

Spassky won two tournaments in the run-up to the final.

Spassky also won at Beverwijk 1967 with 11 / 15, one-half point ahead of Anatoly Lutikov, and shared first place at Sochi 1967 on 10 / 15 with Krogius, Alexander Zaitsev, Leonid Shamkovich, and Vladimir Simagin.

In March – April 1970, Spassky played first board for the Soviet side in the celebrated USSR vs. World event at Belgrade, where he scored + 1 − 1 = 1 in the first three rounds against Larsen before Stein replaced him for the final match, as the Soviets won by the odd point, 20½ – 19½.

In November and December, Spassky finished the year by tying for sixth with Tal, scoring + 4 − 2 = 11, at the Alekhine Memorial in Moscow, which was won by Stein and Anatoly Karpov, the latter's first top-class success.

During 1975, Spassky played two events, the first being the annual tournament at Tallinn, where he finished equal second with Fridrik Olafsson, scoring 9½ / 15 (+ 5 − 1 = 9 ), one point behind Keres, the last international event won by the latter before his sudden death in June 1975.

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

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.

Spassky won an exhibition match over Robert Hübner at Solingen, 1977 by 3½ – 2½, then defeated Lubomir Kavalek, also at Solingen, by 4 – 2 in another exhibition.

His next Candidates ' match was against Portisch at Geneva 1977, and Spassky won by 8½ – 6½, to qualify for the final.

In this match, Spassky fell behind behind 2½ – 7½ after losing the tenth game ; however, he then won four consecutive games.