Boris Spassky is a Russian-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972. Spassky won the Soviet Chess Championship twice outright (1961, 1973), and twice more lost in playoffs (1956, 1963), after tying for first during the event proper. He was a World Chess Championship Candidate on seven occasions (1956, 1965, 1968, 1974, 1977, 1980, and 1985). Source: Boris Spassky's Chess Biography on Wikipedia.