A repertoire based on his games features many aggressive main lines, especially against the Sicilian and the French.
White
Open 1.e4 and meet the Sicilian: 1...c5 with Open lines, ie 2.Nf3, 3.d4 and (after 3...cxd4) 4.Nxd4 (Spassky is well-known for playing Closed variations with 2.Nc3, but he more often played the Open Sicilian and scored a higher percentage with it in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database).
He usually met the Najdorf: 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 with 6.Bg5, scoring 76%.
He also met 5...Nc6 with 6.Bg5, but tried six different moves in 15 games against 5...e6, winning all three times he chose 6.g4. He only faced 5...g6 six times, scoring 83% in three outings with 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 and the same percentage in three outings with 6.Be2 without an early f3.
In lines with 2...e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 he usually played 5.Nc3 against 4...a6, 4...Nc6 and 4...Nf6.
Games with 2...Nc6 normally transposed to lines already considered, but against 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 Spassky favoured 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Nb8 9.c4.
Against 1...e5 he usually headed for a mainline Spanish: 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0. After 5...Be7 he continued down the main line with 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3. If Black 'threatened' a Marshall Attack with 7...0-0, Spassky usually allowed it with 8.c3. Only two opponents in Mega20 went ahead with 8...d5, Spassky once accepting the gambit with 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 and once declining it with 10.d3!?
Against the Open Spanish: 5...Nxe4 he usually played 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3.
Against the Steinitz Deferred: 4...d6 he liked 5.Bxc6+ bxc6 6.d4.
Against the Berlin: 3...Nf6 Spassky generally switched into a Spanish Four Knights with 4.Nc3.
Against the Schliemann: 3...f5 he normally played 4.Nc3, while against both 3...Nge7 and 3...Bc5 he preferred 4.c3, although the one time he faced 3...g6 he chose 4.d4.
Against the Petrov: 2...Nf6 Spassky liked Lasker's favourite, 2.Nxe5 d6 3.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.d3 Nf6 7.Bg5.
Against the Philidor: 2...d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 he liked to fianchetto with 6.g3.
Spassky usually met the French: 1...e6 2.d4 d5 with 3.Nc3, taking on the Winawer: 3...Bb4 with the mainline 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 and 7.Qg4.
Against the Classical: 3...Nf6 he liked 4.Bg5, usually meeting 4...Be7 with 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Bxe7 Qxe7 7.f4. If Black played the Burn: 4...dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 he played 6.Bxf6, and against the McCutcheon: 4...Bb4 Spassky's games went 5.e5 h6 6.Bd2 Bxc3 7.bxc3 Ne4 8.Qg4.
Against the Rubinstein: 3...dxe4 Spassky played 4.Nxe4, meeting the mainline 4...Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 with 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 (he apparently did not face 6...gxf6) 7.Bg5.
Against the Caro-Kann: 1...c6 2.d4 d5 he usually played main lines with 3.Nc3.
Against the Pirc: 1...d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 he usually played the Classical: 4.Nf3, but against the Modern: 2...g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 he very slightly preferred 4.f4, although every time he played 4.Nf3 the game transposed to a Pirc with 4...Nf6, which perhaps makes it a simpler repertoire choice.
Against the Scandinavian: 1...d5 2.exd5 with 2...Qxd5 he played main lines with 3.Nc3 and 4.d4 whether Black replied 3...Qa5, 3...Qd8 or 3...Qd6. Against 2...Nf6 he played 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bc4.
Against Alekhine's: 1...Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 he had most success with the Four Pawns Attack: 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4.
Black v 1.e4
Aim for a mainline Closed Spanish: 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3, and continue with the Breyer Variation: 9...Nb8. Play usually proceeds 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Ng3 g6 15.a4 c5 16.d5 c4 17.Bg5 (890 games reach this position in Mega20), and now Spassky usually played 17...h6 18.Be3 Nc5.
Naturally there are many sidelines along the way, but the main one is the Exchange Variation: 4.Bxc6. Spassky met this with 4...dxc6 and usually played 5...f6 against both 5.0-0 and 5.Nc3 (no games with 5.d4 in Mega20).
Against the Italian Game: 3.Bc4 he slightly more often chose 3...Nf6 rather than 3...Bc5, but scored 12 percentage points more with the latter. After 3...Bc5 he only met the Evans Gambit: 4.b4 once, declining it with 4...Bb6.
Against the Scotch: 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 he definitely preferred 4...Bc5.
Against the Spanish Four Knights: 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 he had most success with 4...Bb4, and against the Scotch Four Knights: 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 he played 5...Bb4.
Against the Vienna: 2.Nc3 and the Bishop's Opening: 2.Bc4 he replied 2...Nf6.
Against the King's Gambit: 2.f4 he usually played 2...exf4, meeting 3.Bc4 with 3...Nf6, but against 3.Nf3, which he faced three times, he tried 3...d6, 3...d5 and 3...h6, winning all three games.
Black v 1.d4 and Others
After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 he usually met 3.Nc3 with 3...Bb4 but against 3.Nf3 most often played 3...d5. In many of the Nimzo-Indian games he continued with 4...c5, while in the QGD games he usually met 4.Nc3, 4.g3 and 4.Bg5 with 4...Be7.
Against the English: 1.c4 he most often replied 1...e6, usually meeting 2.Nc3, 2.Nf3 and 2.g3 with 2...d5, although sometimes he played 2...Nf6 and then 3...d5.
Against 1.Nf3 Spassky most often replied 1...Nf6, usually transposing to lines already mentioned. If White went for King's Indian Attack set-up with 2.g3, he varied his response but had his best results with 2...d5 3.Bg2 c6.
He twice faced 1.b3, both times replying 1...e5 2.Bb2 Nc6.
Here is Spassky using his favourite weapon against the Najdorf in his second world championship match with Petrosian.
Spassky - Petrosian
World Championship (Moscow) 1969, Game 19
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5
This is described as the main line in Wikipedia, although Julen Arizmendi and Javier Moreno in Mastering The Najdorf (Gambit 2004) call it The Old Main Line.
6...Nbd7!?
Much more popular is 6...e6, but the text is also often seen in grandmaster games.
7.Bc4!?
And here the main move is 7.f4, which is also the main move against 6...e6.
7...Qa5 8.Qd2 h6!?
Petrosian again avoids ...e6, which is overwhelmingly the normal move at this point.
9.Bxf6!? Nxf6 10.0-0-0
Spassky has given up the bishop-pair but has a sizeable lead in development.
10...e6
At last!
11.Rhe1 Be7 12.f4 0-0
Petrosian is the first to vary from Bruno Parma - Rajko Bogdanovic, Yugoslav Championship (Novi Sad) 1965. which continued 12...Qc5 13.Bb3 0-0 14.Kb1 Bd8?!, after which White got a strong attack with 15.g4!? Bb6 16.Qg2 (1-0, 33 moves).
13.Bb3 Re8 14.Kb1 Bf8
Petrosian keeps the dark-square bishop on the kingside to strengthen his king's defences, but Spassky nevertheless follows the general formula of Parma - Bogdanovic.
15.g4!? Nxg4!?
A bold decision that is liked by the analysis engines Stockfish11 and Komodo11.01, although even so both engines prefer White.
16.Qg2 Nf6 17.Rg1 Bd7 18.f5 Kh8 19.Rdf1 Qd8?!
This retreat was widely criticised, with grandmaster opinion at the time favouring 19...Qe5!?
20.fxe6 fxe6
 |
| White to make his 21st move |
*****
*****
*****
*****
21.e5!
Sacrificing a pawn to bring the queen's knight into the attack.
21...dxe5 22.Ne4 Nh5
Not 22...exd4? as 23.Nxf6 wins a piece since 23...gxf6? loses instantly to 24.Qg8#.
23.Qg6 exd4
Grandmaster Rainer Knaak in Mega20 gives one possible alternative as 23...Nf4 24.Rxf4! exf4 25.Nf3 Qb6 26.Rg5!! Bc6 27.Nf6 Be4 28.Qxh6+!!
24.Ng5 1-0
There is no defence, eg 24...hxg5 25.Qxh5+ Kg8 26.Qf7+ Kh8 27.Rf3 etc.
It is rare for a world champion to lose any game in 24 moves, never mind a game where his title was on the line, but that is the type of aggressive play Spassky was famous for in his heyday.
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