'True Gentleman' of Chess Was Half of Cold War Showdown

Boris Spassky, the Soviet chess grandmaster who lost a highly politicized showdown—the "Match of the Century"—with American champion Bobby Fischer at the peak of the Cold War, has died. The International Chess Federation announced that Spassky died Thursday in Moscow at age 88. The cause of death was not released, the New York Times reports. "He was not only one of the greatest players of the Soviet era and the world, but also a true gentleman," said federation President Arkady Dvorkovich. "His contributions to chess will never be forgotten."

Spassky had been a child prodigy who became a world champion, but all was overshadowed by the televised 1972 match in Iceland that was a global sensation, per the AP. Fischer and Spassky were cast as proxies for the superpower rivals, though the Soviet had refused to join the Communist Party at home. Spassky won the first game after Fischer stumbled. Fischer forfeited the next game when his demand that the TV cameras be turned off was ignored, per the Times. Fischer came back to win the third game and went on to win the match 12.5 to 8.5 over the course of more than six weeks, giving the US its first world chess title.

But it was Spassky who won fans for his good-natured presence, which included conceding to Fischers' demands and, at one point, applauding a move by the American. When Fischer threatened to skip another game over the camera issue, Soviet officials ordered Spassky to come home. He refused, per the Washington Post. "To Spassky, it was a matter of honor," noted a World Chess Hall of Fame remembrance of the match, which inspired the novel The Queen's Gambit, per the Guardian. "As world champion, he owed his public a world championship match."

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After the loss, Spassky returned to the Soviet Union, where he was considered a disappointment. He said he was persecuted by the KGB and not allowed to leave the country, per the Post. He later lived in France, returning to Russia in 2012. Asked whether he felt more at home in Paris or Moscow, Spassky said: "I feel at home at the chessboard. Our chess kingdom does not have borders." (More obituary stories.)