Boris Spassky, a Soviet-era world chess champion who lost his title to American Bobby Fischer in a legendary 1972 match that became a proxy for Cold War rivalries, died Thursday in Moscow. He was 88.

His 1972 match against American Bobby Fischer is considered one of the most famous duels in the history of the game as well as a metaphor for the competition for Cold War supremacy.

Soviet chess legend Boris Spassky, who lost the 1972 "Match of the Century" to American Bobby Fischer in a Cold War-era showdown, has died at 88. The match, viewed as a symbolic battle between the U.S.

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.