Happy Birthday Boris Spassky!

[Hans Jung]

Happy 85th Birthday to Boris Spassky! - oldest living world champion and living chess legend! https://en.chessbase.com/post/spassk...s-the-sicilian Some nice anecdotes and of course lovely games.

[Frank Dixon]

Many Happy Returns, GM Boris Spassky!! One of my favorite players. It's unfortunate that he will be most remembered for losing the big match to GM Bobby Fischer. Because he had many, many successes. Here are a few: World Junior Champion 1955; Interzonal success that same year, Candidate for 1956, becoming a GM at age 19 (then the youngest ever); Candidate in 1965 and 1968, defeated GMs Paul Keres, Efim Geller and Mikhail Tal in 1965 to make the title match against Champion GM Tigran Petrosian (which Boris lost); climbs ladder again in 1968 by defeating GM Bent Larsen, then GM Geller again, then GM Victor Korchnoi, then defeated GM Petrosian to become World Champion; Board One for USSR against World in 1970, defeating GM Larsen in 17 moves; Soviet champion in 1973; wins against GM Robert Byrne in 1974 Candidates, then loses to GM Anatoly Karpov (who snatched Boris' coach Geller on the eve of the match); a Candidate as late as 1985, ...

I have been saving a horrible pun for this occasion, so here it is!

As the Soviet delegation was preparing GM Spassky for the 1972 title match in Reykjavik (and there is a book which looks at this: 'Russians versus Fischer'), they trained in the Leningrad region for several weeks. Not only was Spassky born in then-Leningrad (previously Petrograd, St. Petersburg, and now once again St. Petersburg), but the northern region has a somewhat similar climate to Iceland, and the Soviets paid attention to such things (as GM Anatoly Karpov explained in his training in the same region for the 1969 World Junior in Stockholm, just across the Baltic Sea, which he won).

OK, so the training was done, with high optimism (Fischer had never defeated Spassky, and Bobby also struggled against Spassky's coach, GM Efim Geller). It was time to have some fun, and also to try to answer a key question.

Question: Which well-known Russian opera did the delegation attend, for enjoyment, in Leningrad, and also to answer that key question?

Answer: Boris Godunov!!! Would Boris be Good-Enough in the match? The answer was NO!!

OK, some explanation is needed here! Boris Godunov (Goodenough!?) who lived 1552-1605, was Regent of Russia from 1585-1598, and he then became Tsar until his death in 1605. His story was well told by composer Modest Mussorgsky in his opera of the same name, which premiered in St. Petersburg in 1874, to great success. The work has been performed since, and not just in Russia! I was fortunate to see it performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

[Frank Dixon]

GM Boris Spassky has a very significant record in Canadian chess.

He first appeared at Winnipeg 1967, Canada's first GM tournament, organized by GM Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, for Centennial year. GM Spassky finished behind winner GM Bent Larsen of Denmark, who won the Chess Oscar that year, perhaps the best of his career.

Boris won the World Championship in 1969, in a re-match with holder GM Tigran Petrosian.

Boris returned to Canada in 1971 for two tournaments. First, the CNE Open in Toronto; it was quite remarkable to see the World Champion playing in what was essentially a minor Swiss format tournament! I don't know the outcome of that event.

Later in 1971, GM Spassky tied for first place with Dutch GM Hans Ree in the 9th Canadian Open in Vancouver. I believe this is the only time a reigning World Champion has played in a Canadian Open (others played before they became world champion: for example, Bobby Fischer in 1956). Perhaps there are other examples.

I believe GM Spassky's final tournament in Canada was the amazing Montreal 1979, which at the time was the strongest tournament ever held. It was a double round robin with ten players. I believe IA Larry Bevand served as Chief Arbiter in his home city. I travelled up and back, same day, from Kingston, for one of the rounds; an amazing experience for me. World Champion Anatoly Karpov shared first place with former World Champion GM Mikhail Tal, both of USSR.

I believe it is fair to say that GM Spassky has a very wide following of fans and supporters, around the chess world, and a very high reputation, free of scandal.

Boris has another distinction, with a tangential Canadian connection: One of his games was adapted to the movie screen, in the James Bond film 'From Russia With Love'. This was his famous win as White over GM David Bronstein, in a King's Gambit! In the movie, the Black pieces were played by the fictional Canadian MacAdams.

GM Garry Kasparov, as World Champion, did play in the 1988 World Blitz Championship in Saint John. He did not win; the winner was GM Tal!! GM Karpov was also in the field.

[Brad Thomson]

Many of us had the opportunity to meet, shake hands with and converse with Spassky in North Bay, 1994. He did not play however. I have a picture of him twiddling with the pieces in the postmortem of the famous Shirov-NIckoloff game. He congratulated Nick on the game and said it was a shame he was low on time (Nick's eternal nemesis), because he was winning. Robert Hamilton ensured that Boris was back in 1995 to do a simul in Ottawa. Spassky is a gentleman with a tremendous amount of character. I took a book with some of his games to North Bay with the intention of having him sign it, but it became immediately clear that he did not have a copy of it in his own library and that he wanted to, so I gave it to him. It was the Weltgeschichte series (my spelling is a guess) where a diagram is given after every five moves, no annotations, red cloth binding. Perhaps it is still in his library.

[Erik Malmsten]

GM Boris Spassky has a very significant record in Canadian chess.


Boris returned to Canada in 1971 for two tournaments. First, the CNE Open in Toronto; it was quite remarkable to see the World Champion playing in what was essentially a minor Swiss format tournament! I don't know the outcome of that event.

Later in 1971, GM Spassky tied for first place with Dutch GM Hans Ree in the 9th Canadian Open in Vancouver. I believe this is the only time a reigning World Champion has played in a Canadian Open (others played before they became world champion: for example, Bobby Fischer in 1956). Perhaps there are other examples.

The tournament in Vancouver came first. Dobrich, Toronto Star chess columnist who had just started the Chess Canada magazine, talked with Spassky and asked him to come to Toronto for the next weekend. It was played in a basement during the noisy CNE and Spassky drew Day, so didn't win first. Has any other World Champion played in a 2-rounds a day weekend swiss?

Spassky, also, in 1967 gave simults in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, and again in Montreal in 1971. In Toronto in 1979 he gave a simult up in the CN Tower.

[Hans Jung]

I think Spassky was more friendly to Canadian chess players than any other world champion. Examples: North Bay he was very approachable and I remember him going for walks with Milan Vukadinov (I was along for one) and he became Milan Vukadinov's coach. I found that to be very charming. Basically Milan would write letters to him including some of his recent tournament games and Boris would reply. An old fashioned pen pal relationship with chess analysis and coaching.
In 1995 I drove my student young Isaac Matthews to Pickering Town Center Mall to play Boris in a simul. We were walking along the second floor and there were many benches one after the other. It was early and there was hardly anyone around. We came up to a bench with a distinguished looking white haired gentleman sitting there and Isaac decided to sit to wait the half hour before the simul started. Of course Isaac was talking chess to me and I realized it was Boris Spassky and said hello. Boris asked Are you playing in the simul? (to Isaac) and how do you think you will do. Isaac replied Im going to crush him. Fischer crushed him. Boris, ever the gentleman, kept a poker face and said I like your confidence, I wish you well.

[Frank Dixon]

Thanks so much to Brad, Erik, and Hans for their informative posts.

Erik's is significant, since it corrects a small error at chessmetrics.com, on the Boris Spassky player file, indicating that the CNE tournament was played first. Great story. This error didn't affect his chessmetrics rating, since the # of rated games in the Toronto event was very small.

I once had several volumes of the German series on world champions, referred to by Brad -- the 'Weltmeister' series (for 'World Champions'). These are bound nicely in red hardcover, with a diagram every five moves. Before computer databases existed, one volume was a perfect companion for long trips. But only one remains for me -- Petrosian; the others were borrowed and not returned. I lost Tal, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Spassky, Alekhine, Lasker, Capablanca, and Euwe. I had bought them on my trip to Amsterdam, which had a wondrous chess store in its canal quarter; I wonder if it is still in existence.

[Hans Jung]

Yes, the "red books" I had the Alekhine and Petrosian volumes but sold them when I needed money. For some reason they were treasured by chess players, much more so than other books. They are collectors items now and command quite the price.

[Brad Thomson]

Yes, the "red books" I had the Alekhine and Petrosian volumes but sold them when I needed money. For some reason they were treasured by chess players, much more so than other books. They are collectors items now and command quite the price.

I have Petrosian. Hans, how much might it be worth? It is in good shape. It comes with a separate booklet with "Anmerkungen von Petrosian".

[Hans Jung]

I wish Wayne Komer was still around. He could instantly give you a close price. My guess would be several hundred dollars. Hopefully somebody will read this and correct me (or not). You could also check on ebay. I dont have rare book contacts anymore.

[Peter McKillop]

Thanks so much to Brad, Erik, and Hans for their informative posts.

Erik's is significant, since it corrects a small error at chessmetrics.com, on the Boris Spassky player file, indicating that the CNE tournament was played first. Great story. This error didn't affect his chessmetrics rating, since the # of rated games in the Toronto event was very small.

I once had several volumes of the German series on world champions, referred to by Brad -- the 'Weltmeister' series (for 'World Champions'). These are bound nicely in red hardcover, with a diagram every five moves. Before computer databases existed, one volume was a perfect companion for long trips. But only one remains for me -- Petrosian; the others were borrowed and not returned. I lost Tal, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Spassky, Alekhine, Lasker, Capablanca, and Euwe. I had bought them on my trip to Amsterdam, which had a wondrous chess store in its canal quarter; I wonder if it is still in existence.

Hi Frank. I have a couple of these, too. The name of the series is 'Weltgeschichte des Schach' which I think means 'world history of chess'. The Spassky volume has the number 27 inscribed on the cover which suggests there may have been 30 volumes, or more, in the series. I checked with abebooks.com where they have volumes for several players for sale with most prices under US$50.

[Cecil Rosner]

If you want to see Boris Spassky in action in Canada, I posted this documentary about the 1967 Winnipeg Centennial GM tournament. It includes footage and an interview with Spassky, Larsen, Yanofsky & much more. Narrated by Stanley Burke, former anchor of the National. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9xg6R-Lvl0

[Frank Dixon]

CNE Open, 1971 data:
(Source, New York Times, Oct. 4, 1971, p. 36)
* 248 players, a record for the event;
* Played during the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), September 1971;
* First place tie: GM Robert Byrne, GM Pal Benko, both with 6-0;
* World Champion GM Boris Spassky was held to a draw by young Canadian Master Lawrence Day, and tied for third with Canadian IM Laszlo Witt at 5.5;
* GMs Arthur Bisguier and Walter Browne never contended after losing to lower-rated players.

[Erik Malmsten]

CNE Open, 1971 data:
(Source, New York Times, Oct. 4, 1971, p. 36)
* 248 players, a record for the event;
* Played during the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), September 1971;
* First place tie: GM Robert Byrne, GM Pal Benko, both with 6-0;
* World Champion GM Boris Spassky was held to a draw by young Canadian Master Lawrence Day, and tied for third with Canadian IM Laszlo Witt at 5.5;
* GMs Arthur Bisguier and Walter Browne never contended after losing to lower-rated players.

The tournament became the annual Labour Day Open. In 1971 it was Sept 4-6. I obtained several photos of Spassky from the CNE Archives and and posted them in an article in Bob Armstrong's newsletter, Toronto Chess News, in 2013:

$1,500 first and second prize were split between 43-years-old New Yorkers GMs Pal Benko and Robert Byrne 6-0. Benko defeated the top two Canadians: Bruce Amos and Zvonko Vranesic. The latter game was an important theoretical battle which made it into his books The Benko Gambit 1973 and Pal Benko: my life, games, and compositions 2003. Byrne took off Ivan Theodorovitch and Denis Allan; Two of his games were published in Horowitz's New York Times column and he got married five days after the tournament. Byrne later became the New York Times columnist, lost a 1974 Candidates Match to Spassky and died earlier this year.

GM Arthur Bisguier lost to Jean Delvas (1962), and GM Walter Browne (2500) only had 3.5 (the same as Joe Smolij). John Wright 4.5 won top junior, Peter Nurmi 3.5 top under 16, Stephen Boyd 4 Top C class, and Toronto High School Champion Mike Williams 4 (1657) defeated Toronto Closed co-Champion George Kuprejanov (2255). Other top juniors were with 4.5 Peter Matsi; with 4: Mohan Rajagopal, Sam Kleinplatz, Victor Dzera and Ray Stone; with 3.5 Dave MacLeod, Harry Kaminker and John [Childey-] Hill. And a new kid Bryon Nickoloff 2. Ruth Cardosa of Brazil won the women's prize with 4. Among the large Montreal contingent were Leslie Witt 5.5; Jacques Labelle and Leo Williams 5; Ignas Zalys and Robert Lebel 4.5; Eric Leimanis and Andris Leimanis 4; and Gilles Angers, Hugh Brodie and Larry Bevand 3.

Also, a PDP-1050 computer entered, rated 1460.

[Bob Armstrong]

I played in the 1971 Labour Day Open. Seeing Spassky walking around - he passed by and looked down at my game for a second one round - was quite something.

My memory on the next thing is not clear..........I remember Donald Byrne, of the famous Fischer Game of the Century, I think, playing, as well as his brother Robert Byrne, the co-winner. Am I right that it was in this tournament? My recollection is that In a later round, I came in and checked the pairings sheet.........I couldn't believe it...... I was paired against Donald Byrne!! He had had a bad tournament.

I got to the adjournment!! Given who he was, and given I was down a pawn, I respectfully resigned, instead of sealing the move in the envelope, and dragging him back to finish the next morning.

Anyone got the full roster for this tournament.....am I right that this was when I played Donald?

Bob A