Boris Spassky, a Soviet-era world chess champion who lost his title to American Bobby Fischer in a legendary 1972 match that became a proxy for Cold War rivalries, died Thursday in Moscow. He was 88.

His 1972 match against American Bobby Fischer is considered one of the most famous duels in the history of the game as well as a metaphor for the competition for Cold War supremacy.

The Soviet-era former chess prodigy, who played in “one of the most iconic” games in history against American Bobby Fischer at the height of the Cold War, died at age 88.