Boris Spassky

Spassky became a Soviet chess prodigy early, tying for first in the national championship at nineteen in 1956 but losing the playoff. He won it outright in 1961, challenged Tigran Petrosian for the world title in 1966 and lost, then came back in 1969 to defeat Petrosian and claim the championship. The crown lasted until 1972, when Fischer beat him in Reykjavik in front of the world. He kept competing as a candidate seven times total, reaching the final stage again in 1977, but the top was behind him. In 1976 he moved to France and became a French citizen two years later; an unofficial rematch with Fischer in 1992 went the same way as the first. He returned to Russia in 2012, thirty-six years after he'd left.