Boris Spassky is best remembered for his duel with American Bobby Fischer in a legendary 1972 match that became a proxy for Cold War rivalries.

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.

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.