Chess Films & Documentaries Through the Eyes of a Chess Player
Guest post by Ani Barua
Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993), Directed by Steven Zaillian
This robust list of chess films and documentaries comes to us from Ani Barua, a competitive tournament chess player and member-at-large at the Washington Chess Federation. In Ani’s words: This is a list of chess films and documentaries that I have seen over the years. The order of the listing is just random and has nothing to do with my "favourite" one. I'm just listing them as whatever films/documentaries come to mind first.
1) The Great Chess Movie (1982)
A Canadian production, this chess documentary, in my opinion, is one of the best chess documentaries out there, particularly from a historical point of view. The film interviews some interesting characters including my favourite, Fernando Arrabal, a Spanish playwright, screenwriter, film director, novelist, poet and an Anarchist.
This is a 1925 Soviet silent comedy film. The film was directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin who along with Sergei Eisenstein made important developments in early film making techniques. The film has footage of the 1925 Moscow Chess Tournament. Then World champion José Raúl Capablanca (one of the greatest players of all time) is in the film as himself.
This film is based on a true story of an ex-convict who starts the Big Chair Chess Club for inner-city youths in Washington, D.C. I don't know why the film got a poor rating on Rotten Tomatoes so please allow me to say F**k Rotten Tomatoes. IMO, this is a really good movie and I have watched it several times already. Here is the Big Chair Chess Club website if any of you are interested.
4) The Mad Genius Of Bobby Fischer (2006)
As the name suggests, this is a documentary film on the famous American World Champion Robert James Bobby Fischer. This is a must see documentary about Fischer. Back in 1972 (during the height of the Cold War), his World Championship match against the Soviet Boris Spassky had more media coverage than any other sports in the US, which is very rare in chess. It is rumored that even President Nixon and Henry Kissinger (both of whom I despise) were following the games in the White House.
5) Bobby Fischer Against The World (2011)
Another Fischer documentary film by director Liz Garbus who I actually got to meet at SIFF during the screening of this film. During the Q&A session after the screening, I could tell most of the audience were non-chess playing people by the nature of their questions. But that's actually a good thing and keep in mind this was long before the Netflix show Queen's Gambit. The film contains never seen footage before so it's a must see just for that.
Yes, another Fischer film. This time Fischer is played by Spiderman! I meant Tobey Maguire. In my opinion, this film is a mixture of historical facts and some dramatization. For example, in the film, Fischer lost his virginity to a sex worker he met in the motel he was staying at before a tournament. As far as I know, there is no record of that ever happening. Another thing is in real life Fischer was 6 feet 2 inches tall while Tobey is short. So if you can ignore those little things, you can enjoy the film.
7) Chess (Musical) also known as Chess in Concert (1980s)
The Chess musical was written by Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus of the pop group ABBA. The story of the musical is loosely based on the 1972 Fischer-Spassky World Championship match and the 1975 Anatoly Karpov- Viktor Korchnoi World Championship match. You can read details here. The video I'm about to share is the Chess in Concert at London's Royal Albert Hall from 2008. Note: Checkout the song One Night In Bangkok by Murray Head. A must have single in your 80's Playlist in Spotify :)
"The French Defense, a play by Dimitri Raitzin is a fascinating look at a chess contest by then World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik (Robert J. D'Amato) and challenger Mikhail Tal (Daniel Hendricks Simon) in 1960." I first saw this back in 2007! Full play and bonus interviews with the actors.
9) My Brilliant Brain - Born Genius (2007)
This is a Nat Geo documentary about GM Susan Polgar (GM = Grandmaster) where they talk about her childhood and the barriers she overcame in a male dominated chess world.
This film has a similar feel to Life Of A King (2013). The film tells the stories of five members of the chess team at a below the poverty line inner city junior high school that has won more national championships than any other in the country. The film follows the challenges these kids face in their personal life as well as on the chess board.
Whenever we have the annual SIFF festival, I always grab the print version of the catalog to see if there are any chess films. And the year 2013 (and 2011) I got lucky because they were showing Computer Chess. The entire film is in black & white which at first gives you the impression that the film was shot in the early 80s. The film is basically about computer chess competition which is a whole different world in itself. In real life, it was like this all the way till the 2010s. Personally, I'm a big fan of computer chess. I can write a whole essay on this subject but I'll save you the time and boring read.
12) The Dark Horse (2014 film)
I have to confess, I haven't seen this film and it is on my "to see" list of chess films. So what I'm writing here is just copy & paste. It got 97% on Rotten Tomatoes so it must be a good indie film. (wait didn't I just say F Rotten Tomatoes? Contradicting myself I see) "A brilliant but troubled New Zealand chess champion finds purpose by teaching underprivileged children about the rules of chess and life."
Again the theme of this film is similar to Brooklyn Castle and Life Of A King. The film is based on the true story of the 1998 Miami Jackson High School chess team. The first inner-city team to win the U.S. National Chess Championship.
As the name suggests, this is a documentary on the current world chess champion Magnus Carlsen. He is also known as the "Mozart of Chess".
15) Garry Kasparov: The Chess Player (2000)
This is a rare documentary film about Garry Kasparov, arguably one of the greatest players of the later half of the 20th Century. This film is a French public television production directed by Joël Calmettes. This film is so rare that they don't even have an IMDb for it.
16) Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine (2003)
This is a film about Kasparov playing the IBM Supercomputer called Deep Blue that was designed only to play chess. The match happened in 1997, till that point no computer ever defeated a human world champion in chess. So it was a big deal when it finally happened and people were seriously questioning the future of humanity (before Y2K madness, remember that?). I want to share something personal about this 1997 Kasparov Vs Deep Blue match. This is the match that inspired me to take chess seriously. 26 years later (among it, 15 years as a competitive player), still in love with this beautiful game.
17) Men Who Would Be Kings (Chess in Washington Square Park) (1987~ 88)
IMO, this is a must see documentary of chess hustlers at Washington Square Park in New York, filmed sometime during the late 80s. This is like going back in time to the NY street chess scene. I absolutely LOVE this homemade documentary and have seen it countless times. I even tried to track down the people in this documentary on different online forums to see where they are at present. The man narrating is still alive and lives in Rhode Island. The guy named Vincent Livermore passed away in the early 90s due to complications from AIDS.
" Miro Reverby documented this chess history of the Washington Square Park giving a rare inside look into personalities and the life inside the small family of chess players."
This is the first romantic drama chess film I've seen. The film was directed by the Dutch director Marleen Gorris (the first female director of a chess film). However, in the chess world the film is not known for its romantic drama but rather for a chess position that arose in the final scene of the film. Here is the position (White to move): In the film, white played 1.Kg4 that allows a forced checkmate in five moves that involves a brilliant Rook sacrifice. However, if white played 1.Kf2 instead, this leads to a heavy material loss for white and Black eventually will win but not just in a flashy way.
Saw this film on Netflix a while back. It is no longer available there. The film is the directorial debut film of the French director Caroline Bottaro. I really enjoyed watching this film, particularly how the film shows the ever increasing obsession for chess by the French chambermaid Helene while at the same time she has to deal with the realities of life. Interview with the actor.
This film tells the story of a Bangladeshi son and father who seek asylum in France after fleeing political persecution in Bangladesh. The son (Fahim) shows great talent in chess and quickly becomes a favorite in chess competitions. Meanwhile, their political asylum gets rejected. With the fear of getting deported at any time, the only hope is for Fahim to win the French Championship under his age category in the hope that the French government would let them stay in France because of his talents.
"Fahim is a 2019 French biographical comedy drama film directed by Pierre-François Martin-Laval. It is based on the autobiographical book by Fahim Mohammad, Xavier Parmentier and Sophie Le Callennec."
21) Searching For Bobby Fischer (1993)
This is a popular chess film from the 90s. It tells the story of Joshua Waitzkin, a chess prodigy. In real life, Joshua Waitzkin retired from competitive chess after earning the title of International Master (one level below a Grandmaster). He then switched career to martial arts and became very successful in it. I have his book "The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance"
"American Gambit chronicles Chess Grandmaster Gary Kasparov's simultaneous challenge to the six strongest American Junior Masters. Each player comes to the event with different preparation and intentions Each of the six games reveals an essential facet of Kasparov's strategy, as well as the surprising effort of the young challengers."
Part I | Part 2 (missing) | Part 3
This is a really cool movie about a "troubled" middle-school boy from a poor Texas border town who finds himself through his school's chess team.
This is a computer animated short film by Pixar. This is Pixar's first animation to feature a human being. The film won the Academy Award for best animated short film.
This film is in my "to see" chess films. So the description of the film is copy & paste :) "A young girl finding her way around the city and her own life through chess lessons. This is also about being open to all the clues about your life and your options that surround you everyday.”
26) Me and Bobby Fischer (2010)
This is another must see documentary. This documentary focuses on Bobby Fischer later in his life. A bit of a background story. Back in 1992 Fischer had a re-match with Spassky in Yugoslavia (now known as Serbia and Montenegro) which was under U.S. sanction at the time. Fischer won that match and with it also $2 million. This violated the U.S. sanction and the U.S. Government issued an arrest warrant for Bobby Fischer. While as a fugitive in Japan, the Japanese Government arrested Bobby Fischer per request of the U.S. and kept him in a detention center. The film picks up from there. I believe the film was filmed by his personal security guard assigned to him in his 1972 World championship match in Reykjavík. Over the years they became close friends.
**Warning: In the film, Bobby Fischer says some anti-Semitic stuff which he was known for later in his life.
On a side note, did you all know Bobby Fischer was a big fan of singer/activist Patti Smith? Here is the story of the interaction Patti Smith had with Bobby Fischer. Really fascinating.
This film is about a homeless Cambodian immigrant (Saravuth Inn) who maintains his livelihood and sanity by playing chess in the heart of Manhattan (Union Square). The film was nominated for the Best Short Filmmaking Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Sadly Saravuth Inn passed away in late 2019 doing what he loved most...playing chess and music.
28) Closing Gambit: 1978 Korchnoi versus Karpov and the Kremlin (2018)
Chess, KGB, hypnotherapist, yoga specialist, X-raying of chairs, attempted murderers...did I get your attention yet? Well, welcome to the world of chess and yes chess players can be weird and superstitious and that includes professional players at the World Championship level. The 1978 World Championship match in Baguio, Philippines was the most bizarre WC match in the history of WC matches. This documentary dives into details with interviews of current and former top professional players.
When this film came out, I had mixed feelings about it because it was a Walt Disney production and as a big time indie film lover I was wondering should I watch it or not, and if I watch it, will I be against my own principle of F**k anything/everything to do with Disney. But then I found out the director of the film is Mira Nair who I greatly admire. If you haven't seen the film The Namesake (2006) by Mira you should check it out. IMO, one of her best works. Salaam Bombay! (1988) is another of her best works. Plus the story of this film is amazing no doubt about that. I ended up watching this film like half a dozen times.
30) Kasparov versus Deep Thought (1989)
This is another must see documentary if you are interested in computer chess. This is when Garry Kasparov played Deep Thought, the predecessor of Deep Blue. The film goes over the history of computer chess before getting into the match. Funny thing is my chess engine app on my smartphone can play stronger than Deep Thought and Deep Blue combined!
31) Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players, 1977)
This is a film by the great Indian director Satyajit Ray. The film tells about the daily life of two wealthy men who are devoted to chess, is presented against the background of scheming officials of the British East India Company, the history of its relations with the Indian ruler of Awadh, and the ruler's devotion both to his religious practice and the pursuit of pleasure.