Boris Wassiljewitsch Spassky (1937, *)
Boris
Spasski was born in St. Petersburg (Russia) January, 30th 1937. He had a hard
childhood. During World War II, his family was evacuated out of St. Petersburg.
Later his parents got divorced, and Spasski stayed with his mother. But his
mother was hurt and could not work, so Spasski had to keep house for himself
and his mother. As a result of these unfortunate circumstances, he became
an adult very early. He currently lives in Paris with his third wife.
Spasski was taught chess by his father at the age of 5. He received the grand master title in 1957. In 1961, he won the Russian championship. In 1966, Spasski lost a game against the world master Petrosian with 12.5:11.5 points. Three years later he would defeat Petrosjan with 12,5:8,5 points and conquered the world master crown. Already in 1972 he had to concede the title to the American Bobby Fischer. The match in Reykjavik ended with 12,5:8,5 for Fischer. In 1992, he held a show match against Fischer in Yugoslavia, which he clearly lost. As a result of the prize he got from this match he could finance his old age.