Legendary Soviet, Russian and French chess player Boris Spassky recently turned 80 years old. At the age of 18, he became the youngest grandmaster at that time. He was crowned champion nearly half a century ago. Boris Vasilievich told Ilya Filippov about the game that he plays today.

The tenth world champion was a favorite of the chess goddess Caissa. This, at least, is what the champion, Boris Spassky, thinks. Each part of his story is, as always, built on self-irony.

- Playing chess was easy for me.

- So did you take advantage of your talent? I did, of course.

- I, unfortunately, had classic Russian drawbacks though. Laziness and faith in luck.

It all started in Leningrad. In 1946, the Spassky family returned after they had been evacuated, and that is when 9-year-old Boris saw a chess pavilion in the park on Krestovsky Island. "In reality, I became a professional when I was 10. My first teacher was Vladimir Zak. He was not only my first teacher, but I believe that he was also my guardian angel. Thanks to Zach, I received a scholarship which supported our whole family".

The golden age of Soviet chess began. Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal, and finally Petrosian, who lost his title to Spassky in 1969. It did not happen by chance. The Soviet Chess School was the best school in the world, a school where Spassky's future main rival, Bobby Fischer, studied. Reading all the Soviet books, he was getting ready for, perhaps, his biggest battle. Reykjavík, 1972. Fisher was difficult, cameras disturbed him, but in the end, the game took place. "Fischer is just an overgrown child. He has such a character".



It was called the match of the millennium. After Fischer's scandalous victory, American comedian Bob Hope invited him onto his TV show. The Spassky-Fischer chess table was set up in the studio, and the host was wearing a fur hat and pulled out a bottle of vodka. "You're too late! I am the new champion now! What? Are you kidding?"

They met again 20 years later at a tournament. And until Fischer died in 2008, Bobby and Boris remained friends. One lived in Iceland, the other in France. Since 1976, Spassky has been living in France, but for tournaments, he performed under the Soviet flag. He returned to Russia not so long ago.

Today, Boris Spassky does not miss a single game of the young champion Magnus Carlsen and his challenger for the chess crown Sergey Karyakin. However, the tenth world champion says that chess is different now. It is not the same as the one that made grandmasters of 1960s go crazy. Now, they have, says Boris, become more pragmatic.