Cover Story / Chess in Popular Culture
As a recent compilation post on Vimeo shows, chess has at least been an ancillary feature of more than 150 movies and television shows. Employed judiciously by directors from Ingmar Bergman to Roman Polanski, the game is usually a character actor itself. Recently, the 64 squares have received top-billing. The landmark Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
put chess on the silver screen like no other movie. Though dealing largely with family relationships and nurturing of a prodigy’s talent, the depic tion of the chess coach was telling. Rendering Bruce Pandolfini as a disillu- sioned recluse was Hollywood’s nod to the chess master as societal backwater—voluntarily sequestered and at times churlish toward the ignominy and financial hardship of his game. Fast forward a dozen years to Knights of the South Bronx (2005) and swap out Pandolfini for David MacEnulty (and the Upper East Side for the Bronx). The film depicts the chess coach as much more engaging, participating in public exhibitions and inspiring others rather than facing his own demons about his career choice (Pandolfini’s character clearly yearns for more transformation than MacEnulty’s). Hollywood continues to fine tune the story line of chess as a panacea for lost youth. This June, another chess coaching movie premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival, also based on a true story. Life of a King (2013) casts Cuba Gooding Jr. (probably much more recognizable to younger audiences than Ben Kingsley was in the 1990s) as the convict-cum-heroic teacher (see sidebar on page 22). Based on the life of Washington D.C. ex-con Eugene Brown, the game goes further into the inner-city, this time saving even more desperate youths. Unlike the other two films, where the actors closely approximate the ages of their subjects, Gooding Jr. is about 20 years younger than Brown—Hollywood wants a younger, hipper game. Queen to Play (2009) advances chess’ reach by making a woman the chess
enthusiast, something unthinkable a few decades ago. The documentary Brooklyn Castle (2012) melds the two themes—overly-dedicated inner-city chess teacher (I.S. 318’s Elizabeth Spiegel, née Vicary), who also happens to be female. But it differs in the large focus on the student, and only gives a passing reference to Fischer himself. Pobo Efekoro quickly became the magnetic star. As school president and unofficial captain of the team, his personality is not differ- entiable from that of the traditional star quarter back. Amidst a spate of publicity interviews upon the movie’s release, Efekoro initially flubs his answers on The Daily Show before finding his footing and ably playing the foil to host John Stewart’s banter. “Pobama,” his self-referential portmanteau, is heard in the film desiring a very public life as a budding politician, although he could easily be polished into a television person ality. Chess players, it seems, do not have to go on to work on algorithms for 40 years. John Galvin, an administrator at I.S. 318 who is featured in the movie, explained the
cool factor: “One key thing that we do at the school is really celebrate the kids’ accom - plishments. At our school we have a chess hall of fame, make regular school-wide announcements about the accom plish ments of our kids, and proudly display trophies and banners of our victories. Of course, having a movie doesn’t hurt.” Upon winning the high school nationals, The New York Times did not mince words in its article title: “At a Brooklyn School, the Cool Crowd Pushes the King Around.” In a rare step backward for the public’s consciousness of chess, venerable film maker Woody
Allen gave Larry David the occupation of chess teacher in 2009’s Whatever Works. Like most New York-based films from Allen, the male lead is a cantankerous misanthrope, so perhaps this can be written off as simply the writer-director’s oeuvre. Many other movie stars play chess themselves, including Will Smith and Woody Harrelson (who
once drew Kasparov in an impromptu game with the help of GM Yasser Seirawan). The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis was set to become a movie in 2008, with Heath Ledger taking the helm at director for the first time. Ledger, a former western Australia junior chess champion, died before filming commenced. Currently, Toby Maguire of Spiderman fame is currently in production in Canada in Pawn Sacrifice. He plays Bobby Fischer during the 1972 world championship match; Liev Schreiber plays Spassky.
20 January 2014 | Chess Life
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