Soviet GM Spassky dies at 88
MANILA, Philippines — Soviet chess grandmaster Boris Spassky, who was famously defeated in the so-called match of the century at the height of the Cold War, has died aged 88, the Chess Federation of Russia said Thursday.
The federation called his death a “great loss to the country,” saying generations of chess players had learned from his matches.
One of the first to react was Soviet grandmaster Anatoly Karpov, who told TASS state news agency: “He was always one of my main idols.”
Spassky is best remembered for his duel with American Bobby Fischer in 1972, which was emblematic of the confrontation between East and West. Born in 1937 in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, he showed prodigious talent early, becoming junior world champion and the youngest grandmaster in history at the time at 18.
He said he learned to play chess at the age of five in an orphanage, managing to flee Leningrad with his family during World War II.
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