- WhiteBent Larsen
- BlackBoris Spassky
- WhereBelgrade
- WhenMarch 31, 1970
- EventUSSR vs. Rest of the World, round 2, board 1
- Result0–1, Black won
- OpeningNimzo-Larsen Attack (A01)
- Length18 moves
In the spring of 1970, the Soviet Union and the Rest of the World met in a team match in Belgrade, on ten boards over four rounds. It was billed as the Match of the Century.
The World team's captain, former world champion Max Euwe, had put Bobby Fischer on top board and Bent Larsen on board two. Larsen declared that he would play on top board or not at all. The evening before the first round, Fischer agreed to move down, and so Larsen faced world champion Boris Spassky.
The first round was drawn. In the second, on March 31, Larsen had White.
The players
Bent Larsen (1935–2010) from Denmark had won a string of big tournaments in recent years and felt he had earned top board. He liked unusual openings. Five years earlier he had lost a close Candidates match to Mikhail Tal; see the game from Bled.
Boris Spassky (1937–2025) had become world champion the year before, when he beat Tigran Petrosian. He was 33.
Read more about Boris Spassky among the great chess players.
The game move by move
Step through with the arrows or tap a move. Moves with a dot have a comment.
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Play like Spassky
Guess the moves Spassky played, one at a time. The move from the game earns two points, and a move Lavi thinks is about as good earns one. The other side's moves and the game's notes come as you go.
The moments that decided it
The end
Most databases end with 17…gxf1=Q+ and say that Larsen lost in 17 moves. We follow the Swedish magazine Tidskrift för Schack of April 1970, which has one more move, 18.Bxf1 Bxg4+, and then “Resigned”. A report from the match also says that Larsen lost in 18 moves. After 18…Bxg4+, White is mated on the next move or the one after.
Why the game is famous
Spassky punished Larsen's opening at once. He gave first a knight and then a rook to clear the way for a pawn, which went all the way to f1. The game won the brilliancy prize for the second round.
It was the World team's only loss on the top four boards in the whole match, and the Soviet Union won in the end by the narrowest margin, 20½–19½. Larsen got his revenge in the very next round, when he beat Spassky.
The whole game with notes, as text
1. b3 Larsen played 1.b3 often between 1968 and 1972, and today the opening carries his name. 1… e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. c4 Nf6 4. Nf3 e4 5. Nd4 Bc5 6. Nxc6 dxc6 7. e3 Bf5 “That Black controls the d3 square will paralyze White's game completely from here on,” wrote Tidskrift för Schack. 8. Qc2 Qe7 9. Be2 O-O-O 10. f4 Tidskrift för Schack thought the move was playable, because 10…exf3 (en passant) runs into 11.Qxf5+. But it weakens White's king position, and Spassky goes on the attack at once. With what we know today, this was the decisive mistake: after a quiet move such as 10.h3, White would have been worse, but far from lost. 10… Ng4 11. g3 h5 12. h3 White attacks the knight on g4. 12… h4 The knight is left where it is, and the pawn moves on instead. “The start of a brilliant, precisely calculated combination,” wrote Tidskrift för Schack. According to a report from the match, Larsen sat for 45 minutes before deciding to take the knight. 13. hxg4 hxg3 Black has given a knight. Now a black pawn stands on g3, and the h-file is open. 14. Rg1 Tidskrift för Schack wrote that after a rook trade on h8, White would have been helpless against the threat …Rh1+. 14… Rh1 “And now a quite fantastic rook sacrifice!” wrote Tidskrift för Schack. 15. Rxh1 g2 The point. The pawn attacks the rook on h1 and threatens to go on to g1. It is the only move that wins. 16. Rf1 “Not even this desperate defense saves White from the mating threats,” wrote Tidskrift för Schack. 16… Qh4+ The queen comes in with check. 17. Kd1 gxf1=Q+ The pawn takes the rook and becomes a queen, with check. 18. Bxf1 Bxg4+ Larsen resigned. After 19.Kc1 Qe1+ 20.Qd1 Qxd1# it is mate, and after 19.Be2, 19…Qh1# mates at once.
PGN – the game as text for other chess programs
[Event "USSR vs. Rest of the World, round 2, board 1"] [Site "Belgrade"] [Date "1970.03.31"] [Round "?"] [White "Bent Larsen"] [Black "Boris Spassky"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A01"] 1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. c4 Nf6 4. Nf3 e4 5. Nd4 Bc5 6. Nxc6 dxc6 7. e3 Bf5 8. Qc2 Qe7 9. Be2 O-O-O 10. f4 Ng4 11. g3 h5 12. h3 h4 13. hxg4 hxg3 14. Rg1 Rh1 15. Rxh1 g2 16. Rf1 Qh4+ 17. Kd1 gxf1=Q+ 18. Bxf1 Bxg4+ 0-1
Sources
- Tidskrift för Schack no. 4, 1970: the Match of the Century, game no. 56
- OlimpBase: USSR vs Rest of the World, Belgrade 1970 (the reports and the game file)
- PGN Mentor, Spassky.pgn and Larsen.pgn
- Wikipedia: Chess matches of Russia and the Soviet Union against the rest of the World
- Wikipedia: Nimzowitsch–Larsen Attack
The moves compared in three sources: Tidskrift för Schack no. 4, 1970 (read on the page image), OlimpBase's game file and PGN Mentor. The databases are identical to each other, 34 half-moves, and end with 17…gxf1=Q+. Tidskrift för Schack has the same moves, with two differences. On moves 8 and 9 it has 8.Be2 Qe7 9.Qc2 instead of 8.Qc2 Qe7 9.Be2; the position after move 9 is the same, and there we follow the two databases. And the game ends with 18.Bxf1 Bxg4+ and resignation. We follow that ending, because it is in a printed account from the same month and is supported by the report of the second round (given by OlimpBase), in which Larsen “lost to Spassky in 18 moves”. The date and board from OlimpBase's game file. Every move has also been replayed by computer and checked against the rules of chess.
Updated November 14, 2026
Bent Larsen has the white pieces, Boris Spassky the black.