The 1989 Spassky Tour

Back in 1989 former World Champion Boris Spassky did an exhibition tour of Australia. It was quite a big thing back then, and it generated quite a degree of publicity for the game. When he was in Canberra, he did plenty of radio and TV interviews, and gave a 20 board simul at Belconnen Mall.
Something at the chess club last week reminded me of one his games from the simul, and Paul Dunn was very quick to dig the game up for me. It was a game played against former ACT Champion Michael Mescher, and was one of only two losses for Spassky on his entire tour. After the game Spassky was quite impressed by Mescher's play, and insisted in inviting Mescher to dinner so they could continue to analyse the game together.
The game was a King's Gambit, and Mescher's choice of 3. ... Be7 was pre-simul prep. Looking through recent theory on this line 6. ... Nc6 still seems to be unplayed (apart from this game) and 9. ... Qh6 is very strong.


Spassky,Boris - Mescher,Michael [C35]
Simul Belconnen, 26.05.1989