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.

When Mr. Spassky, a Russian, played Bobby Fischer, an American, in Iceland at the height of the Cold War, the media attention reduced them to pawns in a wider drama.

Boris Spassky, the Soviet chess grandmaster best known for his historic 1972 match against American Bobby Fischer, has passed away at 88 in Moscow. His legendary encounter with Fischer was a defining moment of Cold War-era chess,