Boris Spassky became World Champion on the second attempt, defeating Petrosian in 1969 and losing his title to Fischer in 1972. He had something of a reputation of having a ‘universal’ style, able to play all positions well, but that is true of anyone who holds the crown of chess, and he has a marked facility with dynamic and attacking play.
Opening lessons
I got a lot out of thinking about Spassky’s opening repertoire. He practised all the major systems of his day, of course, but there were some examples of “positions that are surprisingly hard to play for Black” — the Closed Sicilian being an early example, and the dxc5 variation of the Queen’s Gambit Accepted for another — not regarded highly by theory, but in practise would score well. (I am reminded, as so often, by Tartakower: “Any opening is good if its reputation is bad enough”.)
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He also specialised in some systems, like the King’s Gambit, that hardly anyone else would touch, and not as a surprise weapon, but a thoroughly studied system which he knows well and can show many subtleties.
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Middlegame lessons
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I’m always interested in moves that are hard to spot, and how to spot them. Spassky shows a couple of examples, although how he spotted them, is still unknown to me.
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Endgame lessons
Spassky’s dynamic style means little attention has been given to his endgame technique, and few examples have become well-known.
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