Russian chess legend and former world champion Boris Spassky dies at 88

Russian chess icon and former world champion Boris Spassky, who lost the 1972 "Match of the Century" against American Bobby Fischer, died on Thursday in Moscow, at the age of 88.

Spassky was most known for the historic match, which attracted global media attention and took place during the height of the Cold War, despite winning the world title in 1969. He held the title until the match with Fischer.

The Russian's death was announced by the International Chess Federation, the game’s governing body, which did not give a cause of death. But Spassky had suffered a stroke in 2010 that left him disabled, per the New York Times.

“He was not only one of the greatest players of the Soviet era and the world, but also a true gentleman," Arkady Dvorkovich, the president of the federation, said in a statement. "His contributions to chess will never be forgotten.”

The Russian, who remained a top 10 champion chess player until the mid 1980s, was born into poverty, but learned to play chess while at an orphanage when he was 5. He became his family's primary source of income by the age of 11, and became a grandmaster at the age of 18, the youngest in history at the time.

The height of his career spanned from the 1960s through the 1970s, and he was known for defeating players in whatever manner the situation required.

Spassky, who married three times, all ending in divorce, is survived by his son Boris Spassky Jr., and three grandsons. 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.