Editing Boris Spassky (section)

==Personal life== 
Boris was married three times. His first wife (1959–1961) was Nadezda Konstantinovna Latyntceva. Their daughter was born in 1960. His second wife was Larisa Zakharovna Solovyova. She gave birth to a son in 1967. His third marriage, in 1975 in France, was to Marina Yurievna Shcherbachova, granddaughter of the Russian war general and a [[White movement]] activist [[Dmitry Shcherbachev]]. Their son was born in 1980.<ref>{{cite web| authorlink= :ru:Гик, Евгений Яковлевич| author= Evgeni Gik| url= http://ria.ru/other_sport/20120130/552417067.html |title= Boris Spassky: The Chess King With Very Independent Views| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20160604103318/http://ria.ru/other_sport/20120130/552417067.html |archivedate=June 4, 2016 | publisher= [[RIA Novosti]]| date= January 30, 2012| language= ru| access-date= }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.chess.com/blog/batgirl/who-would-marry-a-chess-master| title= Who Would Marry a Chess Master?| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20160815200129/https://www.chess.com/blog/batgirl/who-would-marry-a-chess-master |archivedate= August 15, 2016 |website= [[Chess.com]]| publisher= | date= January 20, 2013| access-date= }}</ref>

His younger sister Iraida Spasskaya (born November 6, 1944) is a four-time champion of the Soviet Union in [[Russian draughts]] and the world vice-champion in [[international draughts]] (1974).<ref>{{cite web|author=Andrei Napreenkov|url=http://www.shashki.com/module-subjects-printpage-pageid-173-scope-all.html|title=Iraida Spasskaya Is Having a Birthday|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602205442/http://www.shashki.com/module-subjects-printpage-pageid-173-scope-all.html |archive-date=June 2, 2016|website=shashki.com|date=2004|lang=Russian}}</ref>

In an interview to a Western journalist Spassky talked about his psychological approach to chess:
{{cquote|I prefer to have good relations with my opponent. My chess suffers if I have to play a man I consider unfriendly. When I am in form my style is a little bit stubborn, almost brutal. Sometimes I feel a great spirit of fight which drives me on. But deep down I lack faith in myself. I have often found that I have caught the basic idea of a position, the correct plan, but my great weakness is that I fail to follow the logical pattern through from beginning to end.}}

Bobby Fischer once wrote that "Spassky sits at the board with the same dead expression whether he's mating or being mated. He can blunder away a piece and you are never sure whether it's a blunder or a fantastically deep sacrifice."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Evans |first1=Larry|author-link1=Larry Evans (chess grandmaster)|last2=Smith|first2=Ken |author-link2=Ken Smith (chess)|title=Chess World Championship 1972: Fischer vs. Spassky|publisher= [[Simon & Schuster]]|year=1973 |isbn=0-671-21546-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/chessworldchampi00evan|page=19}}</ref>

===Politics and religion===
During his meeting with fans in [[Kaliningrad]] in 2005 Spassky stated about the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union#Consequences|economic and social decline of Russia]] in the 1990s: "If only I knew what was going to happen to our country, I would've joined the Communist Party."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.kp.ru/daily/23444/264740|title=Yes, My Wife Is French...|magazine=[[Komsomolskaya Pravda]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928121743/http://www.kp.ru/daily/23444/264740 |archive-date=September 28, 2012|date=January 21, 2005|lang=Russian}}</ref>

In 2005 Spassky signed the [[Letter of 5000]] addressed to the Prosecutor General of Russia, along with [[Igor Shafarevich]], [[Vyacheslav Klykov]], [[Vasily Belov]] and other activists. The petition suggested that all religious and national Jewish organizations that functioned on the territory of Russia according to the [[Shulchan Aruch]] codes should be shut down for extremism, warning about a "hidden campaign of genocide against the Russian people and their traditional society and values".<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1487546/Outrage-in-Russia-as-Spassky-puts-name-to-rabidly-anti-Semitic-petition.html|title=Outrage in Russia as Spassky puts name to rabidly anti-Semitic petition|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016130010/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1487546/Outrage-in-Russia-as-Spassky-puts-name-to-rabidly-anti-Semitic-petition.html |archive-date=October 16, 2018|author=Bojan Pancevski|date=April 10, 2005}}</ref> He later tried to distance himself from the petition, saying that signing the petition was a mistake.<ref>{{cite news |title=Boris Spassky, maybe-Jewish chess champ who lost 'match of the century' to Fischer, dies at 88 |url=https://www.jns.org/boris-spassky-maybe-jewish-chess-champ-who-lost-match-of-the-century-to-fischer-dies-at-88/ |work=Jewish News Syndicate |date=February 27, 2025}}</ref>

In 2006, Spassky described himself as an [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christian]], a [[monarchism|monarchist]] and a [[Russian nationalism|Russian nationalist]].

{{Verse translation
|head1=Original (russian)<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://magmetall.ru/contribution/2513.htm|title=Boris Spassky, The Tenth World Chess Champion. A Legendary Champion Paid a Visit to The Legendary Magnitka|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610123905/http://magmetall.ru/contribution/2513.htm |archive-date=2016-06-10|author=Olga Platonova|magazine=[[:ru:Магнитогорский металл|Magnitogorsky Metall]] |date=2006-01-21|lang=Russian}}</ref> |lang1=ru
| … я – убежденный монархист, и в советские годы им оставался и никогда этого не скрывал. Считаю, что величие России связано с деятельностью национальных лидеров, какими были наши цари. …

… А по своим убеждениям я – русский националист, и ничего тут страшного нет, не бойтесь. Утверждают, что русский националист – это большая бяка, обязательно антисемит, расист, национал-большевик. Нет – для националиста существуют Бог и уважающие друг друга нации. …

… Что радует в современной России – церкви оживают …
|head2=English (translation)|lang2=en
| I'm a convinced monarchist, I remained a monarchist during the Soviet years and never tried to hide that. I believe that the greatness of Russia is connected to the activity of the national leaders represented by our tsars.

As for my views—I'm a Russian nationalist, and there's nothing scary about it, don't be afraid. Some say that Russian nationalist is a nasty thing, most definitely an antisemite, a racist, a national-Bolshevik. No; for a nationalist God exists and nations that respect each other.

What pleases me in modern Russia is that the churches are coming back to life.}}