When Mr. Spassky, a Russian, played Bobby Fischer, an American, in Iceland at the height of the Cold War, the media attention reduced them to pawns in a wider drama.
Boris Spassky, the world chess champion whose career was overshadowed by his loss to Bobby Fischer in the “Match of the Century” in 1972, died on Thursday in Moscow. He was 88.
His death was announced by the International Chess Federation, the game’s governing body, which did not cite a cause. He had been sick for a long time, having suffered a major stroke in 2010 that left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
Arkady Dvorkovich, the president of the federation, which is also known as FIDE, said in a statement: “He was not only one of the greatest players of the Soviet era and the world, but also a true gentleman. His contributions to chess will never be forgotten.”
Mr. Spassky had noteworthy accomplishments as a player, but the politics of the match with Mr. Fischer, at the height of the Cold War, and the media attention focused on it, reduced both of them to mere pawns in a wider drama.
Mr. Spassky was not happy about all the attention. In a 2023 interview for an exhibition at the World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis, his son, Boris Jr., said, “The role that he played in the 1972 match, he always thought of it as a chess player because all the fuss around it, political, geostrategic, he never mentioned it. I am pretty certain that he felt the pressure.”
It was a measure of the match’s resonance that 20 years later, when they staged a rematch, it drew worldwide interest, even though both players were well past their prime.
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