Bengaluru, March 1 -- For the greater part of his life, Boris Spassky - the 10th world chess champion, was perhaps somewhat unfairly defined by a title match he lost. Born in Leningrad on January 30, 1937, and known to be a freethinker, anti-Soviet and a universal player, Spassky died on Thursday, aged 88.
Spassky, who became world champion in 1969 defeating Tigran Petrosian, went on to play and lose the famed 'Match of the Century' at the height of the Cold War against America's Bobby Fischer in 1972, in Reykjavik.
The East vs West match had a temperamental Fischer making ceaseless demands, not showing up for the opening ceremony and forfeiting the second game while Spassky was under pressure from Soviet authorities to file a protest and...