World Championship 1969: Spassky – Petrosian

Three years after losing to Petrosian's solid defense, Boris Spassky came back, and this time the universal stylist's power and versatility made the difference. He won 12½–10½ to become the tenth World Champion, which set up his match with Fischer.

◇The return

Spassky again fought his way through the Candidates to challenge Petrosian a second time. Vasily Smyslov — who had himself lost to Botvinnik before beating him three years later — publicly fancied the challenger's chances, invoking a Russian proverb about the value of a second attempt.

History, this time, was on Spassky's side.

◇The universal player

Spassky's all-round mastery — sharp attacking play grounded in classical soundness, with no obvious weakness for Petrosian to probe — proved decisive. He took the match 12½–10½ (+6−4=13) to become the tenth World Champion.

He held the title until Reykjavík three years later.

“Repetition is the mother of understanding. In 1954 I could not win the crown from Botvinnik, but three years later I succeeded. Why should not Spassky do the same?”