TalkChess.com

Incredible but true...



(Bad) translation by Google of the long original article in Le Figaro.

Smaller article in English.

In simple language, is there real cause for alarm regarding Spassky at the momment?

S.Taylor wrote:In simple language, is there real cause for alarm regarding Spassky at the momment?

Well, he seems to be intellectually diminished and have fallen under the influence of a crazy woman who separates him from his family (wife, son and sister). Yes, it's a bit worrying. Plus it's unusual and a sad end of life... :'(

JuLieN wrote:

S.Taylor wrote:In simple language, is there real cause for alarm regarding Spassky at the momment?

Well, he seems to be intellectually diminished and have fallen under the influence of a crazy woman who separates him from his family (wife, son and sister). Yes, it's a bit worrying. Plus it's unusual and a sad end of life... :'(

Doesn't it looked overhyped?

He does appear to have diminished resources. Sad.

I do recall that his winning game vs David Bronstein was featured in the James Bond movie "From Russia With Love". Now he went to Russia. But was it with love or was he manipulated?

http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/spass ... t-abducted

"For the first time since he moved back from France to Russia, Boris Spassky has appeared in front of a TV camera and the footage has appeared online. The 10th World Champion is doing reasonably well, and says he was not abducted but chose to return to Moscow himself."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... 1evzo_qCos (In russian)

“Boris says he is now feeling better, following chess events and hoping to hold a chess training session for kids soon. He also mentions that a certain sponsor is supporting him and paying for the medical treatment. Talking about his relatives, the ex-World Chess Champion says he doesn't understand their motives. According to him, his sister started to try to participate in things she has no idea about, and there is a distance between him and his son. They don't communicate. (...) ”

Diminished? This is my opportunity to challenge him. With some luck I now can survive until move 14.

Fern

http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8531

If we read between the lines, he is accusing his family to try to kill him. He suspects his wife, his son and his sister, both in France and Russia. So he thinks he fled to Russia (Despite it was said he at first didn't even know how comes he was back to Russia), and now he is trying to start fresh again... at 75!

Either he is right, and his whole family wants him dead while this mysterious woman brought him back to Russia to save him, or, second hypothesis, this woman abused his bad mental health to develop a paranoia. But why? He's not a rich man!

Anyway, this is a very surprising and sad ending for such a gentleman.

He sounds pretty lucid in the interview, but there are quite a few things he doesn't want to talk about. So there are still some mysteries about the whole thing.

--Jon

I think he was abducted by little green men! The whole affair sounds bizarre.