Let's take a look at the top five male chess players who have spent the longest period as World No. 1. A Soviet Union/Russian player tops this list.

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.

The history of chess is riddled with missed opportunities.

Those who disliked the programme claim that the moves were hard to follow, and that the players and presenter were too hyped ...

One of the first to react was Soviet grandmaster Anatoly Karpov, who told TASS state news ... He said he learned to play chess at the age of five in an orphanage, having managed to flee Leningrad ...

One of the first to react was Soviet grandmaster Anatoly Karpov, who told TASS state news ... He said he learned to play chess at the age of five in an orphanage, managing to flee Leningrad ...

Soviet chess grandmaster Boris Spassky, who was famously defeated in the so-called match of the century at the height of the Cold War, has died aged 88, the Chess Federation of Russia said Thursday.

The world champion, dethroned by the American in the middle of the Cold War, died on February 27 in Moscow at the age of 88 after a life worthy of the movies ...

The federation called his death a "great loss to the country", saying generations of chess players had learned from his matches. One of the first to react was Soviet grandmaster Anatoly Karpov ...