A New King Of Chess

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32018, 19 June 1969, Page 16

A New King Of Chess

A new world chess champion has been crowned. Boris Spassky is of course a Russian —not that a Russian successor to Tigran Petrosian has in the last few years seemed wholly inevitable since the emergence in western countries and in eastern Europe of a few —a very few—worthy challengers to the Russians’ 25-year supremacy. The result of the title match, one of the best and most exciting in the history of the world championship, will no doubt have pleased many of the vast army of chess enthusiasts in Russia, for Spassky, 32, is young enough and good-looking enough to be something of a romantic hero to a public who accord to chess players much the same adulation that in New Zealand is reserved for pop stars and All Black footballers.

The whole chess world has learnt to admire Spassky not only for his all-round skill but for his serene temperament and philosophical outlook on the game. Yet Spassky has been reproached by the sterner critics among his countrymen for insufficient combativeness—a strange complaint against a man whose life since the age of nine has been dedicated to the mastery of this most exacting of intellectual pastimes and who has shown, over and over again, a capacity to gather new strength from predictable setbacks and unexpected reverses alike. Certainly no similar reproach could have been made against the former champion in the years when he was fighting his way to the top. Petrosian conquered the chess world by a combination of subtle insight in the most intricate positional play and of an inexhaustible resourcefulness in defence. What was never in doubt was his burning ambition to succeed. Yet he has been a disappointing champion. His record in tournaments since he beat Botvinnik six years ago reflects little of the skill that has made him such a formidable opponent in three successive world title matches. Some critics have described him as a lazy player, willing to exert himself to the full only when his title was at stake. Others, forgetting that he reached the front rank by winning tournaments, have suggested that it is his physical ruggedness and mental resilience rather than intrinsic skill that equip him so well for the two-month endurance test of a 24-game championship match. Probably both are unfair to Petrosian. It is more likely that the achievement of his lifelong ambition took a heavier toll of the little Armenian’s physical and nervous resources than anyone realised—or he was prepared to admit Some other champions have had their reign cut short for much the same reasons.

Spassky’s ability to relax, his apparent indifference to success or failure, might make him a more durable champion. Will he be a great champion? Only time will tell; but C.H.O’D Alexander, the noted British player and writer, is not alone in predicting that Spassky will prove worthy to rank with Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, and Botvinnik.