chess-The Oxford Companion to Chess - First Edition by David Hooper & Kenneth Whyld

Black mu$ conccdc nor spae in rhc .cntc. Lr hc
.annoiderend d5 adequarely (1i
Rc5) Whitc nakcs usc oI.4 as a sprinsboa for a rmk
anda ackssuce$rullyoirhc king\sldcnoNnhsanding
ihe excharees Spare,nMr, and MoBtrmarc oncn doscly
lirkcd Whirc.ouldasscllbcsaidrohrvcrnidyr.ia-sc in
rime, ie anadvanlaceri deveropne 15 Bx!1 16
Lxe4 Re8 17 Rael Rxe4 l8 Rxe.1Nc6 19 Rg4e6 20
Rh4 Play .ondnued 20 . Ke7 21 Rxhr anJ tsla.k
$ru3eled to rhc 55!h mov. hcloic rcsiSninS. Hc would
atso have lo* a pa*n alier 20. . hi 21 g4
(Sec loBurr Io. a game in *hch a. advantageinsFa.e
ncxpbncdbyrscrlcsol ^rcuviEs.)MiguclaurNrERos.
in an nnusuJl wry: I c.1 e5 2 Nc3 J6 3 Nl3 15 4 d.l e.1 s
Nd2Nl6 6c3c6 713d5 3Qb3a6 sBc2b5 I0c5a5 ll
a4b4 l2Ndl 95 1lNrzh5 Black
SPACE CIILSS. see IHRFE D
SPANISII FOUR KNIGHTS GAME, 452. !o!R
kNroHl op.NrNc in NhichWhite plays the charac
renstic Spanisb nole Bil b5. (See RUBrNsrErN.)
SPANISH OPENING, 351, somerimes called lhe
Ruy L6pez Opening. the mosl tanous ol all
openings. Whire puls pressure on lhc centie
Black\ e-pawn is notyel seriously endangered but
soonerorlater he mun decide bow ro delend it or
how ro oblain sooe compensaion lbr i1s loss. He
cannor easily strike back in the.ertre b)' . . . d5,
lhe usuai fteeing mancuvre: indeed, any nove ol
bis d pa{n at an early staee *ould cause his
qucen\ knjghl 10 be pinned lnd immobilized.
While\gripon the game hasspuried the inlentio.
ol nany delences, sone of *hich have been
analysed lo the 20th nole or belond.
The so-.alled .rosE DEF.N.E, 392, n Bla.k\
most popular choice: he may choose a sotid
delensive gane (395 -1i0) or r! fie MSSEALL
4ll, a pa*n sacrifice to gain a
powe.Iul initiative, by no means a closE [;AME.
His next most popular choice is the srErMrz
DETNCE DEFEmED,355. and here, too, he has the
oprio. ol an aAeressive counreratlack. rhe srEsrA
lARrAnoN,357. In thc opEN DEF.N..j lr1. Rhck
achieves the counler-lhrusr . . . d5 ar the cost oi
sone disatay in his pawn lordadon ln all these
defenccs Black ptays 3. ,. a6, and he nust be
preparedto meel ihe Ex.H^N6r vARrAro\i,114. Il
he does nor pl.y 3 . . a6 Black usually plays the
UERLTN D.r.NcE, al(), trom Nhich he na! ranspose
io the srflNrz DEtsEN.E. Ncilhcr is popular
The Spanish Openine, mentioned in lhe cdF
rNcEN Ms., was reconnended by Ruy L6PEZ and
.amed aftcr his homeland HoNeler the opening
was rarely played belore ihe mid-184os, shen
playes began ro undestadd ns sraregic sieli
licance. Soon rh. Spanish Nd o.c ol the most
Ieared openings. srErNrrztried manyexpe mcnts
in an effort to inprove Black s chances. vilhont
rotablc success, 6ut his pioneerins pointed tbe
way. and in rhe ea.ly years ol ihe 20th century thc
Close Defence was developed by .HIcohN and
other lcading maslers. Although tbis deience has
SPASSKY JI7
shorn rhe Spanish Op..i.e oi mu.h of its lcrror,
Whitc rctains the initiative lor loDger tha. in aDy
other openins. (see BALASEoV
reRMAN: Gur(oa nAL. oP.N rn..i r.rcAr.r-'s rRAPi
T.I.HMA\N1lAsYUmv ]
SPASS(Y, BORIS VASTLYEVTCH 0937 ),
Soviel player, lnle.national Graidmaster (1955),
World Chanpio" 1969 72. Born in Leningrad, hc
lea.ned chessintheUrals{herebe ljledduringrbe
Secodd World War. Meanwhilc his parcnls werc
dirorced and hc rcrurncd after rhe war to live with
nh norher, sister. and enier brother. Joining rhe
.hess secri.n.rthe Paiace ofPionccB nr 194?. hc
spent abont livc hour a day on chess, lrained at
li6t by Vladinn Grigorielich Zak (191] ) and
fronr 1951 bI roLUsE. Al udilesny he d'osc to
stud, joumilisn bec.use that Nould lcave him
pleniy oI time lor chc$ and otrtdoor spo s. He
nly ha,c been uninreresred in acadenic disdnc
1io. bur he developed a wide range oI inreresls
In 1955 heNon rhcworld JuniorChampionship,
sh.rcdlhndplace(+7=9 3)intheUSSRCban
pionship, and qualiEed as i CANDTDAo in thc
GaFborg inrerzonal- a ,emarkablc bcginnine for
an llj ycarcld. Ir thc lolloNinglearhe came first
(+7=9-l) equal wirh rdMrNov (who won rhe
plat off) and avEBAxs in tbe USSR Champion
ship, and rhird (+3= tl 2) eqnalwith BRoNsr.,N,
crr.LER, pErxosyaN. and szlBd alter sMlsrov and
cxEs in the Candidates toumanenl at Anster
dan. ln 1959 he caoe second (+li=9 2) cqual
{ith r\r. altcr Pchosyan in lhe USSR Championship
and fir$ (+4=6 I ) equal sith Bronnein and
Snyslov in the inErnational rournanent ol thc
Moscow Central Chcss Club.
NotNithstanding these achievenenrs Spassky
.elates rhal at rhis rime he had no thoughts about
tbe{orldchanpionship. He notedsilh dismay the
extrene dedic!tion needed lor continuing succcss.
A p.cssing prcblcm was lhe b.eakdown oI hh
young marriage. iwe were like bisbops of opposite
coloul. he redarked. andin 1961he was dilorced.
Nor had he been able ro makc a satisla.rory
relationship sitb Tolush, his lrainer. 'I had no one
to lurn lo at this line except ny motber. He
respected Tolush who. he says, had shosn hin ar
thc aec ol 14 that .hcss had something extra
besides nrategy.'attack, sacrifice. creative ideaJl
but he needed a lriend. He tound one in BoN
DAR.vso who Decamc his traincr in 196l and
whose encouragenent was tbe loundalion oI
Spassky\ later succe$es. His clidb lo lbe lop
began with live excellent htrk: USSR Chanpionship.
Baku 1961, calego.y 13 (+10=9 l):
USSR Championship, Leninsrad 1963 (+5=14).
equal Bnh sErN (who won $e play ol0 and
KnorMov; Bclgrlde 1964 (+9=8); Morow zonal
tournament l9a'4, catesory 15 (+,1=6 2). ahead
olSlein, rcRcs\or, and Gelleri Anslerdan inteF
zodil 1964 (+13=8 2) equal *nh ursEN. Smys
lov. and lal. A Candidatc lor lhe sccond ime-