Boris Spassky, the Soviet chess grandmaster best known for his historic 1972 match against American Bobby Fischer, has passed away at 88 in Moscow. His legendary encounter with Fischer was a defining moment of Cold War-era chess,

When Mr. Spassky, a Russian, played Bobby Fischer, an American, in Iceland at the height of the Cold War, the media attention reduced them to pawns in a wider drama.

Boris Spassky is best remembered for his duel with American Bobby Fischer in a legendary 1972 match that became a proxy for Cold War rivalries.