Death! – Spassky-Fischer Gone! Friends to the End… The Death of an Era…!
DEATH AND CHESS!
Boris Spassky
January 30, 1937 – February 27, 2025
“I do not prepare for chess any more. I am preparing for—death! It is a long and difficult endgame.” -Boris Spassky replied.
Spassky’s reply about death came late in life after he had suffered a stroke and became weak and fragile, but still, he played chess. Someone had asked him what he did now—after suffering a stroke—for his chess preparation.
Spassky-Fischer Gone!
The Death of an Era
by
John Bain
Boris Spassky’s name became forever linked with Bobby Fischer. Spassky is rarely mentioned without mentioning Fischer. Spassky played Fischer in two amazing World Chess Championship matches–one sanctioned in 1972 and one unsanctioned match in 1992.
Bobby Fischer, left, and Boris Spassky discuss a point at a cocktail party after a news conference, Monday, Sept. 15, 1992 in Sveti Stefan, Yugoslavia during their second World Chess Championship match.
Spassky and Fischer maintained a lifelong friendship and rivalry. Bobby Fischer died at 64 years old on January 17, 2008. Boris Spassky died at 88 years old on February 27, 2025.
Spassky was grateful to Fischer for arranging the 1992 rematch. Fischer’s fame made that event possible.
The prize for the 1992 rematch was USD $5 million dollars, with $3.35 million going to the winner, and $1.65 million to the loser, funded by Yugoslav millionaire Jezdimir Vasiljević.
1972
World Chess Championship
A 24-Game Match
The 1972 match was a 24-game match or until one player won 12.5 points. The match was titled, “The Match of the Century.”
The match went 21 games. Fischer won Game 21, ending the match–giving Fischer 12.5 points to Spassky’s 8.5 points.
1992
World Chess Championship
A 30-Game Match!
The 1992 match had an unusual format, running until one player won 10 games–with no adjournments–and draws did not count! The match was titled, “The Revenge Match of the 20th Century.”
Hypothetically, the match could have lasted forever, with no one ever winning 10 games–just draw after draw after draw!
The match went 30 games. Fischer won Game 30, giving him 10 wins to Spassky’s 5 wins–and 15 draws!
Spassky at Home
“I feel at home at the chessboard,” Spassky was quoted as saying in a recollection of the 1972 Reykjavik match published by the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2022. “Our chess kingdom does not have borders,” he said.
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