Soviet Chess Machine:
The story behind the Cold War’s greatest chess match
The Soviet Union’s Love for Chess:
Chess embodies what the USSR stands for. When the Bolsheviks took over and formed the USSR, they ingrained chess into the fabric of society. The game represented revolutionary ideals, it was logical and strategic. Soviet leaders felt that by infusing the public with these traits, they could create stronger citizens who embodied the values of the state. This was a small piece of a larger culture war waged against the spiritual influence of the Russian Orthodox Church in pre-soviet times.
Under Lenin the USSR made chess education mandatory in school, established state-sponsored chess training programs, organized tournaments, and promoted the game as a symbol of Soviet superiority. Not to mention that the game was easy to make and offered the people of the USSR an enjoyable pastime.
Once these programs took hold, Soviet chess masters dominated the international chess scene, producing a series of world champions who held the title for several decades. This was a major source of pride for the State and the Soviet people. Propaganda or not, the soviet dominance of chess represented an ideological superiority of the USSR and communist system that supported it.
This set the stage for chess to be an ideological and political battleground.
While America didn’t have the chess infrastructure that the USSR did, they understood the role it played in the ideological Cold War between capitalism and communism. So when reigning world champion and Soviet grandmaster Boris Spassky sat down across from American challenger Bobby Fischer in the 1972 world championship match, the world watched with bated breath as the two dominant political ideologies of the century went face to face on a checkerboard piece of wood.
An Unconventional Prodigy:
Boris Spassky was not the traditional soviet chess player, he did not learn the game in school like every other student would. Instead, a 5 years old Boris would discover the game of chess while on a train, fleeing the raging battles of WW2 as the frontline moved eastward into his home in Leningrad. Nobody on the train knew it at the time but that moment would be a pivotal one in chess history, the future world champion picked up the pieces for the first time and earned how to move them, but he did so outside of the strict guidance imposed by the soviet chess machine which would have been his first exposed to the game had he been a normal school boy.
When he was 9, Boris and his family moved home after the siege of Leningrad was finished. This is where his formal chess training began as he joined the Young Pioneers Palace, a State-run youth center designated for creative work, sport training, and extracurricular activities. Here, a young Boris was mentored by great soviet chess players and the chess machine turned a young prodigy into a formidable player before he turned 10. When world champion and crown jewel of Soviet chess, Mikhail Botvinnik, came to Leningrad for a simultaneous exhibition match, Boris was invited to participate despite being years younger than the others. During the exhibition, Botvinnik would play 24 players simultaneously and the expectation (and source of amazement) was that he would checkmate each one with ease and walk out with a standing ovation.
The 10 year old Spassky spoiled the party however. He beat Grand Master in their exhibition game and stunned the Soviet Chess world. From that moment on, Boris Spassky was no longer just a young boy who loved chess, his prodigal skill was formally understood and the Soviet Chess Machine went to work refining him into a world class competitor. This didn’t take long as by age 15 he was a Soviet Master (better than nearly everyone in the world) and by age 18 he was officially a Chess Grandmaster, setting the record for Youngest player to ever reach the elusive title.
Not Your Average Comrade:
While Boris Spassky’s accomplishments as a chess grandmaster placed him in the spotlight during the height of the USSR, his personal beliefs made him far from a model Soviet citizen. Spassky was not a staunch Marxist-Leninist, his political and philosophical beliefs were dramatically different from nearly any other prominent figure in Soviet society. He was a traditional Russian nationalist; who truly believed his people should never have moved on from the Tsar monarchy. He believed that communism stifled individual expression and envied the western democratic approach to governance.
Spassky was also an incredibly spiritual man as he was a devout Russian Orthodox Christian man. In the Soviet Union this was incredibly controversial and very rare (at least for someone to be outspoken about it). The state heavily promoted atheism as its official spiritual position and minimized the influence of organized religion by actively persecuting religious leaders and destroying churches, mosques, and synagogues.
In the Soviet context, Spassky’s religious beliefs and adherence to monarchism sharply contrasted many foundational communist ideologies. Even though Spassky’s unique blend of beliefs made him an outlier in Soviet society, his prowess in chess put him on a social pedestal. His influence was so impactful that he is one of the most prominent faces representing Soviet Experimentalism, even in today’s history books.
Spassky vs. Petrosian:
As Boris Spassky grew older, he continued to rise the international chess ranks until he was face-to-face with a chance to earn chess’s most prestigious title, becoming the world-champion. The only man standing in his way was Soviet-Armenian grandmaster Tigran Petrosian.
Petrosian, known as “Iron Tigran,” was famous for his rock-solid defense, wearing down opponents by creating locked-in positions on the board then meticulously picking his opponents apart when they overextended. This style was particularly effective against the traditional style soviet chess which emphasized fast paced and daring play. This aggressive style was taught in the Soviet Chess schools and served to embody the ideal character traits of Soviet citizens.
Neither of these contrasting styles can pin down how Boris Spassky played chess. He was unique in that his game lacked any real area of weakness. He was consistent and steady, matching the patience of players like Petrosian. But to classify him as a defensive player would discount his ability to play daring and sharp. He would often make bold sacrifices and use unorthodox moves to get into the heads of even the most sporadic players such as Mikhail Tal. Borris didn’t buy into a particular school of chess. When asked to characterize Spassky’s style on the board, the great Garry Kasparov simply said “The universal chess style”.
Before earning such high praise from the chess world, Boris had to prove he could be the best. In 1966, the stage was set. Spassky vs. Petrosian for the World Chess Championship. It was a series of intense and closely contested games. In the end, Spassky’s precision and adaptability shone through. He dethroned Petrosian, securing the World Chess Championship title and completing his rise as one of the greatest chess prodigies in history.
The Rise of Bobby Fischer:
While the Soviets were undeniably dominating international chess, a new challenger was starting to emerge from the other side of the iron curtain. Born in 1943, American chess prodigy, Bobby Fischer, had a meteoric rise into the top echelon of competitive chess.
His first major accomplishment was becoming the youngest U.S. Chess Champion ever at just 14 years old. Not long after, he earned the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15, breaking the record for youngest Grandmaster ever, previously held by none other than Boris Spassky himself.
Bobby was a quiet kid, known to be introverted and socially awkward, he spent most of his early life reading chess books to himself. His dedication to learning the game of chess was all encompassing, it was all he ever wanted to do. He was known for his incredible memory and could recall just about any games he read about in incredible detail. Despite this, Fischer’s approach to chess was built on intuition and creativity, rather than the memorization of optimal moves. He even widely criticized the chess community for relying too much on memorization, saying most chess players were just people “wearing thick glasses looking at computer screens all day”.
As he grew older, he became increasingly brash and arrogant. He played a unique and aggressive style of chess that was fueled by his seemingly limitless confidence and deep understanding of his opponents weaknesses that he discerned from analyzing their past games. While nobody could deny his skill on the chess board, Bobby started to earn a reputation for being erratic and inflammatory. He would often make outlandish demands of tournament organizers, accuse others of cheating, and just forfeit matches all together that he didn’t want to play in.
Fischer saw himself as a lone wolf, with no allegiance to any nation or family. He played chess under the American flag but to paint him as a patriot would be asinine. He had a distaste for America that went far beyond standard criticisms. He loathed America on a fundamental level and actively rooted for its demise. Following the attack on 9/11 Fischer wrote a thank you letter to Osama Bin Laden praising the attack.
He was not a supporter of the USSR either though. He held a grudge against the Soviets for the lies they told about him. He hated the Soviet Union and wanted to dominate them on the world stage and prove that not only could he hang with the Soviets, he could beat them. Luckily, he wouldn’t have to wait long to get his chance.
Fischer’s Unprecedented Dominance:
The 1971 Candidates Tournament showcased the full extent of Bobby Fisher’s chess prowess. He systematically dominated everyone who sat across from him in a remarkable display of skill.
His first opponent was Soviet Grandmaster Mark Taimanov. The match was swift and brutal. Bobby defeated him 6–0. This was the first 6–0 victory in the history of the Candidates Tournament and news of the match sent shockwaves throughout the chess world. At the top level of chess, matches are usually won by the slimmest of margins but this match was not even close. Fischer had outright won 6 games in a row against one of the strongest players in the world. The loss was so humiliating for Taimanov that the CCCP took away his salary and banned him from traveling abroad, forcing him to retire from chess and switch his career to being a concert pianist.
In the semifinals, Fischer faced another Soviet Grandmaster, Bent Larsen of Denmark, who was considered one of the strongest players outside the Soviet Union. However, Larsen proved to be no match for Fischer’s brilliance, as the American once again achieved a dominant 6–0 victory. further cementing his status as the top contender for the World Chess Championship.
The final hurdle in Fischer’s quest for a shot title was the man Spassky had beaten to win the world title the year before, Tigran Petrosian. The match was slightly closer than the other matches that tournament but Fischer’s relentless attack eventually broke through Petrosian’s defenses, securing a convincing 6.5–2.5 victory over the Armenian. With this win, Fischer earned the right to challenge Boris Spassky for the World Chess Championship the following year.
Fischer’s incredible run through the 1971 Candidates Tournament left the chess world in awe. As Author George Steiner put it — “No bare statement conveys the magnitude and impact of these results. … Fischer sowed devastation.” This unprecedented result instantly became a top international news story, bringing new eyes to chess and putting a media spotlight on the upcoming showdown between Fischer and Spassky. For the Soviets, the rise of Bobby Fischer threatened their 54 year monopoly on the chess world. They were starting to sweat and the US saw this weakness and took full advantage. Western media started to portray Bobby Fischer as the icon of American exceptionalism and a tangible example of the brilliance being cultivated under capitalism. Across the world there was growing anticipation to see what Fischer could do against the reigning world champion. The upcoming showdown would be given a fitting moniker — “The Match of the Century”
“The Match of the Century” Begins:
1972 World Chess Championship in Reykjavik, Iceland had a level of intrigue and energy never before seen in the chess world. The room was packed and TV cameras from around the world were there to capture the moment Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer sat across from each other. Everyone there knew that this match was more than just a contest between two of the greatest chess prodigies the world had ever seen; it was an ideological battleground for the superpowers of the Cold War. It was capitalism versus communism, the United States versus the Soviet Union, all playing out on a simple chess board. A single piece of wood with 64 squares painted on top was now the front line for the greatest ideological battle in history.
Both players carried the weight of their respective nations on their shoulders but there is often something missing from the historic accounts of arguably the most important match of chess ever played. The stakes surrounding this moment were not the result of two men championing themselves as the representatives for their countries and economic systems, they simply loved the art of chess and wanted to be the best in the world. The reality is that this match became the embodiment of the Cold War entirely because politicians and propagandists in both countries manufactured that narrative. They placed monumental stakes on this match that never needed to be there and had absolutely nothing to do with the actual game being played.
In fact, Bobby and Boris could not have cared less about the Cold War rhetoric surrounding their match and in a bit of an ironic twist, these two of the worst men were arguably some of the worst possible people to represent their native countries’ ideologies. They both hated the society they were raised in. Bobby actively rooted for the collapse of America and Boris was about as outspokenly critical of the Soviet system as any citizen could be while avoiding the gulags. The world these two men cared about was chess. There was no nationalism motivating them to study openings or develop new theory. The people of America and the USSR attached their national identities to Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, but when the two sat across from each other in Reykjavik, Iceland to play “The Match of the Century” they were playing for themselves and only themselves.
As the incumbent world champion, Spassky had the inherent advantage, at least on paper. He would retain his title even if the match ended in a draw (not an uncommon result in top-level chess). On top of this, Fischer has never even taken a game on Spassky in their 5 meetings before this World Championship match.
Despite all of this however, Fischer was actually the betting favorite in London Sportsbooks going into the match. His run through the Contenders Tournament showed a truly unpredicted level of dominance and people were understandably hesitant to doubt his ability.
The first game however reminded the world why Boris Spassky was the world champion. The game was relatively even until Fischer made an odd move sending his bishop to capture a pawn deep into Spassky’s position. This moment didn’t phase Spassky for a second and he responded by expertly trapping the bishop and then capturing it a few moves later, forcing Fischer to resign game number one. This was an uncharacteristic blunder made by Fischer during a point in the match where he was actually ahead in time. The audience started to wonder if the pressure of the match was affecting his mental composure.
Fischers Antics:
All things considered, game one was a pretty normal game of chess. Game 2 however was anything but. In fact, they never even played a game 2, Fischer resigned the game before they even sat down to play. He claimed that the television cameras were too close and that the noise was breaking his concentration, so he refused to play unless the cameras were moved. Had this been any other player, the organizers might have taken this complaint seriously. He was known to be petty and erratic, making extreme demands while being perfectly willing to walk away from a match if they weren’t met. In the leadup to the championships, Bobby threatened to not play multiple times. First it was over an argument about the prize pool, he wasn’t happy with the deal that had been agreed upon months before and demanded that he and Boris earn a share of the in-person ticket sales. When this request was denied, Bobby didn’t even fly to Iceland and was absent for the match’s opening ceremony. Only after a British investment banker put up the money to double the prize pool did Fischer arrive in Iceland and agree to play, forcing the match to start 2 days later than scheduled.
The second ultimatum was made after Fischer did a thorough inspection of the hall and had a long list of gripes about the set up. He demanded that the first 2 rows of seats be removed, that the table be made shorter, that the chessboard itself be replaced, along with many more minute changes. All of these were accommodated prior to the match. But once the first game was over, the tournament organizers decided to put their foot down. Fischer had appealed the result of game 2 but this request was rejected and Spassky officially went up 2–0 in the match.
Fischer packed his bags and was at the airport fully planning to return to the US after playing just a single game of chess. Rumors say that he then received a desperate plea from a fellow top American chess player who convinced him to turn around and give the match one more shot. We will never know exactly what was said at that moment but something ignited within Fischer who came back and agreed to finish the match, under one condition.
Spassky Defys the Soviets:
Fischer’s final request would be his biggest yet. He agreed to finish the match but only if it would be played backstage, in a tiny room, with no audience, and just a single stationary camera to capture the moment. He wanted to play on his own terms.
The organizers were understandably upset by this request. Bobby had held the entire event hostage 3 times now and no matter how accommodating they were to him, it was never enough. But they were desperate. They had already organized an elaborate production, offered a prize pool 20x bigger than had ever been seen in chess, and the whole world was watching. The threat of having to cancel everything was strong enough to consider Fischer’s ultimatum. But if the match was going to take place with these changes made, they would need permission from Spassky and the Soviets.
In the eyes of the CCCP, the decision about whether or not to comply with these demands was an easy one. All they wanted was a Soviet champion and didn’t care one bit if that victory came via forfeit. But as had happened many times before, Spassky’s personal beliefs did not align with that of the CCCP and the State of which he represented. To Spassky, the pursuit of chess mastery was internal and deeply personal. He “genuinely hated the fact that this game he loved so much had somehow taken on an aspect of superpower politics. As the reigning world champion he just wanted to play the match and win.”
Later in life, Spassky recalled the conversation he had with Sergey Pavlov, USSR’s ‘Minister for Sport’, that discussed how Spassky was going to respond to Fischer’s demands.
“A few days before the third game I spoke for half an hour on the telephone with Pavlov, who demanded that I should declare an ultimatum, which neither Fischer, nor the organizers, nor even the FIDE President would have accepted, and the match would have been wrecked. The entire conversation consisted of an endless exchange of two phrases: ‘Boris Vasilievich, you must declare an ultimatum!’ ‘Sergey Pavlovich, I will play the match!’”
To defy the order of such a high ranking member of the CCCP took a huge amount of conviction. It was undeniably risky and there was no telling what consequences he would face when he returned home. He fully understood what he had done and was certainly terrified. Directly after this phone call with Pavlov, Spassky said he spent 3 hours laying in his bed, shaking uncontrollably in fear.
The Soviet Chess Machine was not built altruistically, to nurture unique young chess talent.
It was designed to act as an assembly line, manufacturing ideal Soviet citizens who embody the core ideologies of the communist party. By being dominant in chess internationally, the state was able to show both their own people and the world that the communist system was superior.
What this system never accounted for was someone like Boris Spassky coming along. He didn’t learn chess at a chess school that forced him to contextualize his play through the lens of being a soviet. He studied chess for the sake of chess and for the sole purpose of becoming better at chess. While he did attend Young Pioneers Palace to formalsize his chess training, that did not define his ideological framework that had developed to value his own individualism and disagree with many core philosophies of Soviet society.
Knowing this, It’s not surprising that Boris Spassky never became a pawn of the CCCP. It explains why he chose to continue his match with Fischer despite the outrageous demands and declined an easy path to victory placed right in front of him. In his heart, he never saw himself as the idealized icon of Soviet exceptionalism that his country demanded he become. He was simply a chess player. When he sat down across from Bobby Fischer, he saw another chess player looking back at him, not an evil American whose ideology needed to be crushed by any means necessary. In fact, Fischer himself had a very similar view about Spassky. He hated the USSR because of how they talked about him, sure, but he hated the US a whole lot more and never connected that animosity to Spassky. Fischer just saw him as a rival on the chess board and nothing more.
The match played by these two competitors is defined in history by its connection to the politics of the time. But behind it all are two men who both fundamentally disagree with the ideologies that they are being forced to champion on this world stage. For that reason, it’s a bit poetic that the two ended up playing out their legendary “Match of the century” behind closed doors, away from the spotlight put onto them because of the Cold War. In a way this privacy allowed them to play this match out as Chess competitors rather than representatives of countries they never felt connected to in the first place.
And The Winner Is:
Once the arrangements had been made, Boris and Bobby would play their remaining 19 games in the back room. It’s unclear whether the chaos of the moment got into Spassky’s head or if being in a controlled space just made Fischer more comfortable, but the result was dominant. Fischer was able to earn 7 wins while Spassky could only manage 1 single victory. This was more than enough for Fischer to overcome the deficit caused by games 1 and 2. When Spassky resigned from game 21 over the phone, Bobby Fischer had officially become the world chess champion, doing so in truly dominant fashion.
In the aftermath of the event, Bobby Fischer became a household name in America but he was not well suited for celebrity life. As the fame grew more invasive, Fischer started to seclude himself, cutting people out of his life, and having increasingly intense bouts of paranoia and delusion. He stopped attending chess tournaments, only agreeing to play competitively in order to defend his world title against the Soviet Anatoly Karpov. He never ended up playing that match however, forfeiting his world title after organizers refused to meet the extensive list of demands that he had for the match. Despite only holding the world title for a single year, some chess players today consider him to be the greatest player ever. The argument they make is that despite not being at the top for very long, Bobby Ficher had the most dominant stretch of chess in history. Research using modern chess engines shows that his run between 1971–1972 is the closest anyone has ever been to playing theoretical perfect chess in a tournament.
After the loss, Spassky returned to the Soviet Union. Despite there being some tension with the CCCP, he avoided any explicit persecution for his decision to play out the championship match. He continued to play chess at a very high level, winning his third USSR championship the next year in 1973 but unfortunately, he would never ever quite make it back to a world championship level and his match with Fischer would be his last at the very top of the chess world. Spassky eventually renounced his soviet citizenship and immigrated to France in 1976. He embraced France with open arms, claiming it feels more like a home than the Soviet Union ever did.
The Rematch:
On the 20th anniversary of “the Match of the Century”, Boris Spassky and Bobby Fisher would go head-to-head once again this time in Sveti Stefan, Yugoslavia. The world had changed since their first encounter; the Soviet Union had dissolved, and the Cold War was over. Yet, the chess community was bursting with excitement at the thought of bringing these two titans of the board back for one more match.
In true Bobby Fischer fashion, this match brought with it some controversy. Yugoslavia was under heavy sanctions by the US and he ended up facing major legal issues when he decided to attend anyway. By showing up to play, Fischer had become a fugitive of the US and renounced his citizenship. This would also be the first public chess match Fischer had played since their original world championship match 20 years prior. The chess world had no idea what to expect from him, but they were understandably excited to see him play again.
This exhibition match served not only as a nostalgic callback to the fierce competition that had gripped the world in 1972, but reminded the world just how much things had changed in that last 20 years. The Soviet Union had crumpled and the Cold War had ended. Both Spassky and Fischer had renounced their citizenships, leaving behind the countries that they were forced to represent all those years ago. The relationship between them had simplified. Their face off no longer had large scale political implications. They could now face each other in the way they wished they could have in the first place, as chess rivals and nothing more.
Rivals to Friends:
Fischer would end up winning the rematch and the two would once again go their separate ways. Spassky spent his later years coaching, commentating, and competing in chess while living in France. He remained a consistent and well-respected member of the chess community for many years.
Fischer would eventually find refuge in Iceland where he lived a quiet and secluded life. After the rematch, the two men maintained some communication and while the public saw what their friendship looked like, it was clear from interviews that they had an immense amount of respect for each other. Fischer’s health would start to decline as a result of degenerative kidney disease and during this time Spaasky would keep in close contact with his old rival, checking in on him regularly. When the condition took Bobby’s life at age 65, Boris was completely shook. Momentarily unable to express his sense of loss, Spassky simply said “My brother is dead.”
Sources:
- Chess.com. (2019, July 1). 50-Year Anniversary: Fischer-Spassky Game 1. Retrieved from https://www.chess.com/article/view/50-year-anniversary-fischer-spassky-game-1
- BBC. (2018, July 11). Bobby Fischer vs Boris Spassky: ‘Match of the Century’ remembered. [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnHshJyMo6Q
- BBC News. (2019, December 3). Boris Johnson accused of hiding in fridge to avoid interview. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-50599525
- Slate Magazine. (2009, September 16). How Did Russians Get So Good at Chess? Retrieved from https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2009/09/how-did-russians-get-so-good-at-chess.html
- Bartleby. (n.d.). Boris Spassky: The Soviet Chess Master & Communism. Retrieved from https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Boris-Spassky-The-Soviet-Chess-Master-Communism-FJFWY4LWRLV