Here's a FEN of the famous position from the Spassky-Fischer world championship match where Fischer weirdly played Bxh2 on move 29 and Spassky went on to win the game:
My father-in-law told me he watched that game live when he was a kid, and he just gasped when Fischer played Bxh2. (This is before engines or eval bars). Spassky did well to convert, but this is more about Fischer's mistake than Spassky.
This is the kind of blunder that you'd expect from a strong club player, not from Bobby Fischer. Although I understand that Fischer was brilliant but inconsistent, and to be fair, the last chess championship matches had a share of blunders.
It's almost a certainty Fischer didn't just "not notice" the bishop would be trapped, he just miscalculated further down the line (in fact if you plug it into an engine, it shows an equal evaluation)
It's one of the single biggest misconceptions ever, it gets repeated endlessly
> in fact if you plug it into an engine, it shows an equal evaluation
I don't think this is true, and engine evals aren't everything.
Two positions can have equal evaluations, but one can be trivial to play optimally and the other can be tricky and have a 10 move long sequence of "only moves" that are really hard to calculate. The latter is a much worse move, if you are not a chess engine.
Your last paragraph is the nicest capsule description of this very important and yet widely misunderstood computer chess concept I've seen. Thanks! I'm going to use this (probably poorly paraphrased due to my failing memory:).
That’s reasonable, but the question we really want to know is how difficult it will be to equalize, which is a measure of both the number of equalizing moves and how difficult it is to find them. If the only moves are obvious, it’s not as bad as you might originally think.
In other words the correct calculation of subjective difficulty is a dot product, not simply a count of the number of equalizing moves.
you are replying to a comment that says "he miscalculated an equal position further down the line" and your point of objection is that he miscalculated an equal position further down the line?
If on move 29, you choose a move that is slightly worse but leave yourself in an extremely difficult position for you but an easy one for the other guy...
And then only on move 40 does the eval extremely diverge...
In my opinion, your real blunder was on move 29, not 40. Just because an engine could hold a position doesn't make it a reasonable move.
but that says nothing about what Fisher was thinking, so while your opinion is valid, it's not more valid than the comment you replied to, especially when your comment mimics the structure of his comment in the way I pointed out.
Interesting, I never knew that. Engine does give +0.6 to Spassky, so the move slightly made Fischer's position worse (https://lichess.org/study/Eyl4uwTZ/TUx5RZIk) and the engine thinks f4 (on move 40) was the blunder.
I'm not qualified to analyse this, I read into it a bit more and apparently he was trying to complicate the game, the 1973 tournament book only marks it as ?!.
> the engine thinks f4 (on move 40) was the blunder.
The engine knows what move would be a blunder for computer play.
It doesn't know what move made the position impossibly tricky for a human to maintain for black.
Every game that I analyze, there's possible moves where the computer will trade endless complexity for one's side for a couple centipawn advantage. These are moves that a human should not play.
I don't think it was purely a calculation error, it was probably also an intuitive evaluation. Bobby was trying to complicate the game and create an imbalance, where there were still winning chances if misplayed by spassky, but obviously it was a bad evaluation and it backfired. I think he was in a bit of a mood and got reckless. He had been making a lot of demands leading up to this and threats to not participate, probably got frustrated by the drawn endgame and took a big risk. I don't think he ever really opened up about his reasoning to be fair, but was asked along the lines of "were you trying to complicate the game" and he said "something like that". After losing those first two games he demanded the cameras to be removed from the playing hall and started to play really well against spassky, so possibly a psychological aspect from the cameras were also to blame. Maybe he knew he was throwing the game and it'd make for an entertaining match... the guy was sort of insane
{"moves":[{"p":"P","f":"d2","t":"d4"},{"p":"n","f":"g8","t":"f6"},{"p":"P","f":"c2","t":"c4"},{"p":"p","f":"e7","t":"e6"},{"p":"N","f":"g1","t":"f3"},{"p":"p","f":"d7","t":"d5"},{"p":"N","f":"b1","t":"c3"},{"p":"b","f":"f8","t":"b4"},{"p":"P","f":"e2","t":"e3"},{"p":"k","f":"e8","t":"g8","castle":"K"},{"p":"B","f":"f1","t":"d3"},{"p":"p","f":"c7","t":"c5"},{"p":"K","f":"e1","t":"g1","castle":"K"},{"p":"n","f":"b8","t":"c6"},{"p":"P","f":"a2","t":"a3"},{"p":"b","f":"b4","t":"a5"},{"p":"N","f":"c3","t":"e2"},{"p":"p","f":"d5","t":"c4","x":"P"},{"p":"B","f":"d3","t":"c4","x":"p"},{"p":"b","f":"a5","t":"b6"},{"p":"P","f":"d4","t":"c5","x":"p"},{"p":"q","f":"d8","t":"d1","x":"Q"},{"p":"R","f":"f1","t":"d1","x":"q"},{"p":"b","f":"b6","t":"c5","x":"P"},{"p":"P","f":"b2","t":"b4"},{"p":"b","f":"c5","t":"e7"},{"p":"B","f":"c1","t":"b2"},{"p":"b","f":"c8","t":"d7"},{"p":"R","f":"a1","t":"c1"},{"p":"r","f":"f8","t":"d8"},{"p":"N","f":"e2","t":"d4"},{"p":"n","f":"c6","t":"d4","x":"N"},{"p":"N","f":"f3","t":"d4","x":"n"},{"p":"b","f":"d7","t":"a4"},{"p":"B","f":"c4","t":"b3"},{"p":"b","f":"a4","t":"b3","x":"B"},{"p":"N","f":"d4","t":"b3","x":"b"},{"p":"r","f":"d8","t":"d1","x":"R","c":1},{"p":"R","f":"c1","t":"d1","x":"r"},{"p":"r","f":"a8","t":"c8"},{"p":"K","f":"g1","t":"f1"},{"p":"k","f":"g8","t":"f8"},{"p":"K","f":"f1","t":"e2"},{"p":"n","f":"f6","t":"e4"},{"p":"R","f":"d1","t":"c1"},{"p":"r","f":"c8","t":"c1","x":"R"},{"p":"B","f":"b2","t":"c1","x":"r"},{"p":"p","f":"f7","t":"f6"},{"p":"N","f":"b3","t":"a5"},{"p":"n","f":"e4","t":"d6"},{"p":"K","f":"e2","t":"d3"},{"p":"b","f":"e7","t":"d8"},{"p":"N","f":"a5","t":"c4"},{"p":"b","f":"d8","t":"c7"},{"p":"N","f":"c4","t":"d6","x":"n"},{"p":"b","f":"c7","t":"d6","x":"N"},{"p":"P","f":"b4","t":"b5"},{"p":"b","f":"d6","t":"h2","x":"P"},{"p":"P","f":"g2","t":"g3"},{"p":"p","f":"h7","t":"h5"},{"p":"K","f":"d3","t":"e2"},{"p":"p","f":"h5","t":"h4"},{"p":"K","f":"e2","t":"f3"},{"p":"k","f":"f8","t":"e7"},{"p":"K","f":"f3","t":"g2"},{"p":"p","f":"h4","t":"g3","x":"P"},{"p":"P","f":"f2","t":"g3","x":"p"},{"p":"b","f":"h2","t":"g3","x":"P"},{"p":"K","f":"g2","t":"g3","x":"b"},{"p":"k","f":"e7","t":"d6"},{"p":"P","f":"a3","t":"a4"},{"p":"k","f":"d6","t":"d5"},{"p":"B","f":"c1","t":"a3"},{"p":"k","f":"d5","t":"e4"},{"p":"B","f":"a3","t":"c5"},{"p":"p","f":"a7","t":"a6"},{"p":"P","f":"b5","t":"b6"},{"p":"p","f":"f6","t":"f5"},{"p":"K","f":"g3","t":"h4"},{"p":"p","f":"f5","t":"f4"},{"p":"P","f":"e3","t":"f4","x":"p"},{"p":"k","f":"e4","t":"f4","x":"P"},{"p":"K","f":"h4","t":"h5"},{"p":"k","f":"f4","t":"f5"},{"p":"B","f":"c5","t":"e3"},{"p":"k","f":"f5","t":"e4"},{"p":"B","f":"e3","t":"f2"},{"p":"k","f":"e4","t":"f5"},{"p":"B","f":"f2","t":"h4"},{"p":"p","f":"e6","t":"e5"},{"p":"B","f":"h4","t":"g5"},{"p":"p","f":"e5","t":"e4"},{"p":"B","f":"g5","t":"e3"},{"p":"k","f":"f5","t":"f6"},{"p":"K","f":"h5","t":"g4"},{"p":"k","f":"f6","t":"e5"},{"p":"K","f":"g4","t":"g5"},{"p":"k","f":"e5","t":"d5"},{"p":"K","f":"g5","t":"f5"},{"p":"p","f":"a6","t":"a5"},{"p":"B","f":"e3","t":"f2"},{"p":"p","f":"g7","t":"g5"},{"p":"K","f":"f5","t":"g5","x":"p"},{"p":"k","f":"d5","t":"c4"},{"p":"K","f":"g5","t":"f5"},{"p":"k","f":"c4","t":"b4"},{"p":"K","f":"f5","t":"e4","x":"p"},{"p":"k","f":"b4","t":"a4","x":"P"},{"p":"K","f":"e4","t":"d5"},{"p":"k","f":"a4","t":"b5"},{"p":"K","f":"d5","t":"d6"}],"opening":{"ECO":"E56"},"site":"Reykjavik ISL","event":"Spassky-Fischer World Championship Match","result":"W","type":"C","players":[{"handle":{"domain":"UNK","value":"Boris Spassky"}},{"handle":{"domain":"UNK","value":"Robert James Fischer"}}]}
Love this game. It taught me to look for a move like g4.
Also it was probably not objectively the best move (and definitely not Spassky's best game) but Tim Krabbé made a list of 110 most fantastic moves ever played, and he put Spassky's 16...Nc6 against Averbakh as no. 1 (certainly an unorthodox choice):
I know this is a dumb question even before I ask but I cannot figure it out: why do only some of the games on chessgames.com end in a final move that is actually checkmate, while others don't? On this one for example the final move says "Black to move" and you can move them around to get to a checkmate yourself...did they just shake hands and not play the final couple moves out?
Yes, it is common for high level players to just shake hands and resign, when they know the position is lost and their opponents certainly will checkmate them
Unless your opponent has just executed such a brilliant set of moves that they deserve the satisfaction of actually finishing the sequence and delivering checkmate.
Rest in peace, GM Spassky. He made wonderful contributions to the game, and was a gentleman to boot. Applauding your opponent in the middle of a world championship game? Class.
My favorite Spassky game, without a doubt was playing black against Bent Larsen (using Larsen Opening)... h4 & hxg3 is a must in the "move of century" list
He will be missed. A full generation of heroes of mine is starting to fall. I think the minds and life of individuals like Spassky are very hard to replicate in modern society, we are just different now.
Here's a FEN of the famous position from the Spassky-Fischer world championship match where Fischer weirdly played Bxh2 on move 29 and Spassky went on to win the game:
5k2/pp4pp/4pp2/1P6/8/P2KP3/5PPb/2B5 w - - 0 30
Full PGN here:
[Event "Spassky - Fischer World Championship Match"] [Site "Reykjavik ISL"] [Date "1972.07.11"] [EventDate "?"] [Round "1"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Boris Spassky"] [Black "Robert James Fischer"] [ECO "E56"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "111"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3 Ba5 9. Ne2 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Bb6 11. dxc5 Qxd1 12. Rxd1 Bxc5 13. b4 Be7 14. Bb2 Bd7 15. Rac1 Rfd8 16. Ned4 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Ba4 18. Bb3 Bxb3 19. Nxb3 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 Rc8 21. Kf1 Kf8 22. Ke2 Ne4 23. Rc1 Rxc1 24. Bxc1 f6 25. Na5 Nd6 26. Kd3 Bd8 27. Nc4 Bc7 28. Nxd6 Bxd6 29. b5 Bxh2 30. g3 h5 31. Ke2 h4 32. Kf3 Ke7 33. Kg2 hxg3 34. fxg3 Bxg3 35. Kxg3 Kd6 36. a4 Kd5 37. Ba3 Ke4 38. Bc5 a6 39. b6 f5 40. Kh4 f4 41. exf4 Kxf4 42. Kh5 Kf5 43. Be3 Ke4 44. Bf2 Kf5 45. Bh4 e5 46. Bg5 e4 47. Be3 Kf6 48. Kg4 Ke5 49. Kg5 Kd5 50. Kf5 a5 51. Bf2 g5 52. Kxg5 Kc4 53. Kf5 Kb4 54. Kxe4 Kxa4 55. Kd5 Kb5 56. Kd6 1-0
See the board here on Lichess https://lichess.org/study/facg4YUQ/jnXlZXWo
My father-in-law told me he watched that game live when he was a kid, and he just gasped when Fischer played Bxh2. (This is before engines or eval bars). Spassky did well to convert, but this is more about Fischer's mistake than Spassky.
This is the kind of blunder that you'd expect from a strong club player, not from Bobby Fischer. Although I understand that Fischer was brilliant but inconsistent, and to be fair, the last chess championship matches had a share of blunders.
It's almost a certainty Fischer didn't just "not notice" the bishop would be trapped, he just miscalculated further down the line (in fact if you plug it into an engine, it shows an equal evaluation)
It's one of the single biggest misconceptions ever, it gets repeated endlessly
> in fact if you plug it into an engine, it shows an equal evaluation
I don't think this is true, and engine evals aren't everything.
Two positions can have equal evaluations, but one can be trivial to play optimally and the other can be tricky and have a 10 move long sequence of "only moves" that are really hard to calculate. The latter is a much worse move, if you are not a chess engine.
Your last paragraph is the nicest capsule description of this very important and yet widely misunderstood computer chess concept I've seen. Thanks! I'm going to use this (probably poorly paraphrased due to my failing memory:).
That’s reasonable, but the question we really want to know is how difficult it will be to equalize, which is a measure of both the number of equalizing moves and how difficult it is to find them. If the only moves are obvious, it’s not as bad as you might originally think.
In other words the correct calculation of subjective difficulty is a dot product, not simply a count of the number of equalizing moves.
you are replying to a comment that says "he miscalculated an equal position further down the line" and your point of objection is that he miscalculated an equal position further down the line?
still your move
You've not understood what is said.
If on move 29, you choose a move that is slightly worse but leave yourself in an extremely difficult position for you but an easy one for the other guy...
And then only on move 40 does the eval extremely diverge...
In my opinion, your real blunder was on move 29, not 40. Just because an engine could hold a position doesn't make it a reasonable move.
but that says nothing about what Fisher was thinking, so while your opinion is valid, it's not more valid than the comment you replied to, especially when your comment mimics the structure of his comment in the way I pointed out.
Is there a chess metric that combines centipawns with a complexity metric?
> in fact if you plug it into an engine, it shows an equal evaluation
This isn't true - that move takes the game from dead equal, to +0.7 (70 centipawns favor for Boris).
It isn't a total blunder but it's objectively a poor move.
Interesting, I never knew that. Engine does give +0.6 to Spassky, so the move slightly made Fischer's position worse (https://lichess.org/study/Eyl4uwTZ/TUx5RZIk) and the engine thinks f4 (on move 40) was the blunder.
I'm not qualified to analyse this, I read into it a bit more and apparently he was trying to complicate the game, the 1973 tournament book only marks it as ?!.
> the engine thinks f4 (on move 40) was the blunder.
The engine knows what move would be a blunder for computer play.
It doesn't know what move made the position impossibly tricky for a human to maintain for black.
Every game that I analyze, there's possible moves where the computer will trade endless complexity for one's side for a couple centipawn advantage. These are moves that a human should not play.
It still doesn't make any sense, even if he knew that the bishop was trapped. Black is the only side that can lose.
Idk, I'm an amateur and that just looks like an obvious terrible move. I don't get it. What's to calculate?
I don't think it was purely a calculation error, it was probably also an intuitive evaluation. Bobby was trying to complicate the game and create an imbalance, where there were still winning chances if misplayed by spassky, but obviously it was a bad evaluation and it backfired. I think he was in a bit of a mood and got reckless. He had been making a lot of demands leading up to this and threats to not participate, probably got frustrated by the drawn endgame and took a big risk. I don't think he ever really opened up about his reasoning to be fair, but was asked along the lines of "were you trying to complicate the game" and he said "something like that". After losing those first two games he demanded the cameras to be removed from the playing hall and started to play really well against spassky, so possibly a psychological aspect from the cameras were also to blame. Maybe he knew he was throwing the game and it'd make for an entertaining match... the guy was sort of insane
Well Fischer wasn't an amateur and there's no evidence he just missed a one-move refutation
That game at chessgames.com:
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044722
Game in BGN (https://moschetti.org/rants/bgnchess.html)
{"moves":[{"p":"P","f":"d2","t":"d4"},{"p":"n","f":"g8","t":"f6"},{"p":"P","f":"c2","t":"c4"},{"p":"p","f":"e7","t":"e6"},{"p":"N","f":"g1","t":"f3"},{"p":"p","f":"d7","t":"d5"},{"p":"N","f":"b1","t":"c3"},{"p":"b","f":"f8","t":"b4"},{"p":"P","f":"e2","t":"e3"},{"p":"k","f":"e8","t":"g8","castle":"K"},{"p":"B","f":"f1","t":"d3"},{"p":"p","f":"c7","t":"c5"},{"p":"K","f":"e1","t":"g1","castle":"K"},{"p":"n","f":"b8","t":"c6"},{"p":"P","f":"a2","t":"a3"},{"p":"b","f":"b4","t":"a5"},{"p":"N","f":"c3","t":"e2"},{"p":"p","f":"d5","t":"c4","x":"P"},{"p":"B","f":"d3","t":"c4","x":"p"},{"p":"b","f":"a5","t":"b6"},{"p":"P","f":"d4","t":"c5","x":"p"},{"p":"q","f":"d8","t":"d1","x":"Q"},{"p":"R","f":"f1","t":"d1","x":"q"},{"p":"b","f":"b6","t":"c5","x":"P"},{"p":"P","f":"b2","t":"b4"},{"p":"b","f":"c5","t":"e7"},{"p":"B","f":"c1","t":"b2"},{"p":"b","f":"c8","t":"d7"},{"p":"R","f":"a1","t":"c1"},{"p":"r","f":"f8","t":"d8"},{"p":"N","f":"e2","t":"d4"},{"p":"n","f":"c6","t":"d4","x":"N"},{"p":"N","f":"f3","t":"d4","x":"n"},{"p":"b","f":"d7","t":"a4"},{"p":"B","f":"c4","t":"b3"},{"p":"b","f":"a4","t":"b3","x":"B"},{"p":"N","f":"d4","t":"b3","x":"b"},{"p":"r","f":"d8","t":"d1","x":"R","c":1},{"p":"R","f":"c1","t":"d1","x":"r"},{"p":"r","f":"a8","t":"c8"},{"p":"K","f":"g1","t":"f1"},{"p":"k","f":"g8","t":"f8"},{"p":"K","f":"f1","t":"e2"},{"p":"n","f":"f6","t":"e4"},{"p":"R","f":"d1","t":"c1"},{"p":"r","f":"c8","t":"c1","x":"R"},{"p":"B","f":"b2","t":"c1","x":"r"},{"p":"p","f":"f7","t":"f6"},{"p":"N","f":"b3","t":"a5"},{"p":"n","f":"e4","t":"d6"},{"p":"K","f":"e2","t":"d3"},{"p":"b","f":"e7","t":"d8"},{"p":"N","f":"a5","t":"c4"},{"p":"b","f":"d8","t":"c7"},{"p":"N","f":"c4","t":"d6","x":"n"},{"p":"b","f":"c7","t":"d6","x":"N"},{"p":"P","f":"b4","t":"b5"},{"p":"b","f":"d6","t":"h2","x":"P"},{"p":"P","f":"g2","t":"g3"},{"p":"p","f":"h7","t":"h5"},{"p":"K","f":"d3","t":"e2"},{"p":"p","f":"h5","t":"h4"},{"p":"K","f":"e2","t":"f3"},{"p":"k","f":"f8","t":"e7"},{"p":"K","f":"f3","t":"g2"},{"p":"p","f":"h4","t":"g3","x":"P"},{"p":"P","f":"f2","t":"g3","x":"p"},{"p":"b","f":"h2","t":"g3","x":"P"},{"p":"K","f":"g2","t":"g3","x":"b"},{"p":"k","f":"e7","t":"d6"},{"p":"P","f":"a3","t":"a4"},{"p":"k","f":"d6","t":"d5"},{"p":"B","f":"c1","t":"a3"},{"p":"k","f":"d5","t":"e4"},{"p":"B","f":"a3","t":"c5"},{"p":"p","f":"a7","t":"a6"},{"p":"P","f":"b5","t":"b6"},{"p":"p","f":"f6","t":"f5"},{"p":"K","f":"g3","t":"h4"},{"p":"p","f":"f5","t":"f4"},{"p":"P","f":"e3","t":"f4","x":"p"},{"p":"k","f":"e4","t":"f4","x":"P"},{"p":"K","f":"h4","t":"h5"},{"p":"k","f":"f4","t":"f5"},{"p":"B","f":"c5","t":"e3"},{"p":"k","f":"f5","t":"e4"},{"p":"B","f":"e3","t":"f2"},{"p":"k","f":"e4","t":"f5"},{"p":"B","f":"f2","t":"h4"},{"p":"p","f":"e6","t":"e5"},{"p":"B","f":"h4","t":"g5"},{"p":"p","f":"e5","t":"e4"},{"p":"B","f":"g5","t":"e3"},{"p":"k","f":"f5","t":"f6"},{"p":"K","f":"h5","t":"g4"},{"p":"k","f":"f6","t":"e5"},{"p":"K","f":"g4","t":"g5"},{"p":"k","f":"e5","t":"d5"},{"p":"K","f":"g5","t":"f5"},{"p":"p","f":"a6","t":"a5"},{"p":"B","f":"e3","t":"f2"},{"p":"p","f":"g7","t":"g5"},{"p":"K","f":"f5","t":"g5","x":"p"},{"p":"k","f":"d5","t":"c4"},{"p":"K","f":"g5","t":"f5"},{"p":"k","f":"c4","t":"b4"},{"p":"K","f":"f5","t":"e4","x":"p"},{"p":"k","f":"b4","t":"a4","x":"P"},{"p":"K","f":"e4","t":"d5"},{"p":"k","f":"a4","t":"b5"},{"p":"K","f":"d5","t":"d6"}],"opening":{"ECO":"E56"},"site":"Reykjavik ISL","event":"Spassky-Fischer World Championship Match","result":"W","type":"C","players":[{"handle":{"domain":"UNK","value":"Boris Spassky"}},{"handle":{"domain":"UNK","value":"Robert James Fischer"}}]}
Amazing game, thanks for sharing.
RIP. My favourite Spassky game is this 24 move win against Petrosian and Petrosian was no patzer: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1106864
Love this game. It taught me to look for a move like g4.
Also it was probably not objectively the best move (and definitely not Spassky's best game) but Tim Krabbé made a list of 110 most fantastic moves ever played, and he put Spassky's 16...Nc6 against Averbakh as no. 1 (certainly an unorthodox choice):
https://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/chess/fant100.htm
I know this is a dumb question even before I ask but I cannot figure it out: why do only some of the games on chessgames.com end in a final move that is actually checkmate, while others don't? On this one for example the final move says "Black to move" and you can move them around to get to a checkmate yourself...did they just shake hands and not play the final couple moves out?
Yes, it is common for high level players to just shake hands and resign, when they know the position is lost and their opponents certainly will checkmate them
They also usually type "gg" into the game chat
When you know you’re beat, it’s honorable to skip the formalities.
Unless your opponent has just executed such a brilliant set of moves that they deserve the satisfaction of actually finishing the sequence and delivering checkmate.
Ohh, that is lovely. I had not seen it. Black does seemingly nothing wrong and is just in a world of hurt by the 12th move.
Rest in peace, GM Spassky. He made wonderful contributions to the game, and was a gentleman to boot. Applauding your opponent in the middle of a world championship game? Class.
Do you have a video of this? Sounds cool.
Fischer had had photography+video mostly banned and unfortunately there isn't a photo of this.
Related:
Boris Spassky has died - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43197956
Rest in peace. One of the top GMs of all time. Former world champion. Wonderful player. Thanks for all the amazing games.
My favorite Spassky game, without a doubt was playing black against Bent Larsen (using Larsen Opening)... h4 & hxg3 is a must in the "move of century" list
He will be missed. A full generation of heroes of mine is starting to fall. I think the minds and life of individuals like Spassky are very hard to replicate in modern society, we are just different now.