Entertainment

Spacey Spassky

Bobby Fischer’s final years — which included being jailed in Japan and self-exiled to Iceland — are almost as bizarre as what’s been happening to his famous 1972 match rival Boris Spassky.

Spassky left the USSR and became a French citizen in 1978, as he began a new life with his third wife. He seemed to be adjusting comfortably to the end of his playing career.

But Spassky suffered a stroke in Moscow two years ago and was brought back to Paris by his son for an extensive recovery.

However, in August, Spassky, 75, vanished from his home, allegedly with the help of friends who bribed his maid. His sister Iraida said he had been “kidnapped” by an unidentified woman, and his son filed a report of abduction with police.

His whereabouts were unknown until his son found him in a Moscow clinic last month.

The former world champ refused to say how he got there. But this month he suggested to Russian TV that his life was in danger when he fled Paris with the help of “a sponsor . . . who is paying for my rehabilitation.”

And is there another woman involved? “There certainly ought to be another woman!” he replied.

In this week’s game, Black resigned because he didn’t like 21 . . . fxe6 22 Nd6+ and 23 Qg6(+).