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Chess movies
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----- Forwarded message from spklein52@hotmail.com -----
Date: Thu, 04 Aug 2005 10:13:06 -0400
From: "Sandy P. Klein" <spklein52@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: SPKlein52@HotMail.com
Subject: when you realize Nabokov once said: "Chess problems demand ...
To: spklein52@hotmail.com
Message requiring your approval (36 lines)
------------------ [1]
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0803chessmovies03-ON.html[2]#
Chess players in the movies
AZ Central.com - AZ,USA
... The Luzhin Defence (2000). John Turturro plays a chess master
slipping into madness. The film is based on the VLADIMIR NABOKOV
novel of the same title. ... Chess players in the movies
Aug. 3, 2005 04:45 PM
Chess shows up a lot in the movies, often for no other reason than
to make the protagonist seem smart or sophisticated. It's frequently
used in advertisements for the same reason.
But it's obvious - at least to chess players - that most ad designers
don't play chess. The tip-off is in the way the board is set up. More
often than not you'll see a dark square at each player's right, but
that square is always light in chess. Check it out the next time you
see a chessboard in an ad.
But we digress.
Only a handful of movies actually have been _about_ chess, or at
least involved chess as a major plot element.
Here's a sampling:
Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993). The best chess movie ever made,
starring Joe Mantegna, Joan Allen, Ben Kingsley and Max Pomeranc as
chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin. Based on the book by Fred Waitzkin about
his son's phenomenal abilities, the film was dramatized, with Kingsley
portraying chess coach Bruce Pandolfini. Laurence Fishburne plays a
chess bum whose overly aggressive style of play influences Josh in
ways Kingsley does not approve.
The Luzhin Defence (2000). John Turturro plays a chess master
slipping into madness. The film is based on the Vladimir Nabokov
novel of the same title. Nabokov - best known as the author of
_Lolita _- was an avid and highly skilled chess player who once
included a series of chess problems of his own composition in a book
of his poems. Makes sense when you realize Nabokov once said: "Chess
problems demand from the composer the same virtues that characterize
all worthwhile art: originality, invention, conciseness, harmony,
complexity and splendid insincerity."
Knight Moves (1992). Starring Christopher Lambert, Diane Lane and
Tom Skerritt. Melodramatic tale of a chess grandmaster and a series
of mysterious killings.
Many other films feature the game in a prominent way, without
actually being about chess.
The Seventh Seal (1957). Max von Sydow plays chess with Death in
Ingmar Bergman's classic.
From Russia With Love (1963). The early James Bond flick features
the tuxedo-clad grandmaster Kronsteen, a SPECTRE operative (Number 5,
to be exact), winning a match game in brilliant style. The position on
the board was from an actual game between Soviet grandmasters Boris
Spassky and David Bronstein, played in 1960.
Night Moves (1975). Gene Hackman, Melanie Griffith. A classic
whodunit, with Hackman as a detective who uses a famous chess game to
illustrate that he thinks he's overlooking something that's important
but not obvious.
Hundreds of movies have had chess games here and there. Do you
remember the chess scenes in these?
_Monkey Business _(1931).
_Casablanca _(1943).{check}
_Stalag 17 _(1953)
_2001: A Space Odyssey _(1968).
_Blazing Saddles _(1974).
_Yentl _(1983).
_Mr. Holland's Opus _(1995).
Links:
------
[1] http://www.azcentral.com/
[2] http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0803chessmovies03-ON.html
----- End forwarded message -----
Date: Thu, 04 Aug 2005 10:13:06 -0400
From: "Sandy P. Klein" <spklein52@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: SPKlein52@HotMail.com
Subject: when you realize Nabokov once said: "Chess problems demand ...
To: spklein52@hotmail.com
Message requiring your approval (36 lines)
------------------ [1]
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0803chessmovies03-ON.html[2]#
Chess players in the movies
AZ Central.com - AZ,USA
... The Luzhin Defence (2000). John Turturro plays a chess master
slipping into madness. The film is based on the VLADIMIR NABOKOV
novel of the same title. ... Chess players in the movies
Aug. 3, 2005 04:45 PM
Chess shows up a lot in the movies, often for no other reason than
to make the protagonist seem smart or sophisticated. It's frequently
used in advertisements for the same reason.
But it's obvious - at least to chess players - that most ad designers
don't play chess. The tip-off is in the way the board is set up. More
often than not you'll see a dark square at each player's right, but
that square is always light in chess. Check it out the next time you
see a chessboard in an ad.
But we digress.
Only a handful of movies actually have been _about_ chess, or at
least involved chess as a major plot element.
Here's a sampling:
Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993). The best chess movie ever made,
starring Joe Mantegna, Joan Allen, Ben Kingsley and Max Pomeranc as
chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin. Based on the book by Fred Waitzkin about
his son's phenomenal abilities, the film was dramatized, with Kingsley
portraying chess coach Bruce Pandolfini. Laurence Fishburne plays a
chess bum whose overly aggressive style of play influences Josh in
ways Kingsley does not approve.
The Luzhin Defence (2000). John Turturro plays a chess master
slipping into madness. The film is based on the Vladimir Nabokov
novel of the same title. Nabokov - best known as the author of
_Lolita _- was an avid and highly skilled chess player who once
included a series of chess problems of his own composition in a book
of his poems. Makes sense when you realize Nabokov once said: "Chess
problems demand from the composer the same virtues that characterize
all worthwhile art: originality, invention, conciseness, harmony,
complexity and splendid insincerity."
Knight Moves (1992). Starring Christopher Lambert, Diane Lane and
Tom Skerritt. Melodramatic tale of a chess grandmaster and a series
of mysterious killings.
Many other films feature the game in a prominent way, without
actually being about chess.
The Seventh Seal (1957). Max von Sydow plays chess with Death in
Ingmar Bergman's classic.
From Russia With Love (1963). The early James Bond flick features
the tuxedo-clad grandmaster Kronsteen, a SPECTRE operative (Number 5,
to be exact), winning a match game in brilliant style. The position on
the board was from an actual game between Soviet grandmasters Boris
Spassky and David Bronstein, played in 1960.
Night Moves (1975). Gene Hackman, Melanie Griffith. A classic
whodunit, with Hackman as a detective who uses a famous chess game to
illustrate that he thinks he's overlooking something that's important
but not obvious.
Hundreds of movies have had chess games here and there. Do you
remember the chess scenes in these?
_Monkey Business _(1931).
_Casablanca _(1943).{check}
_Stalag 17 _(1953)
_2001: A Space Odyssey _(1968).
_Blazing Saddles _(1974).
_Yentl _(1983).
_Mr. Holland's Opus _(1995).
Links:
------
[1] http://www.azcentral.com/
[2] http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0803chessmovies03-ON.html
----- End forwarded message -----