The Chess Films Dozen
by Max_in_Vienna | created - 27 Dec 2020 | updated - 27 Dec 2020 | PublicMy favourite films with chess at their centre — or at least as a strong supporting character (please also note, I said favourite, not best).
Note: I generally try to curb my enthusiasm and not rate new films higher simply because they're new and exciting — it is a known skew on most rating sites such as this one. Nevertheless, "The Queen's Gambit" tops my list as my favourite film about chess — and I've now rewatched a few to be certain. "Chess movies" is not even a sub-genre in film, too few have been made. Yet it is still an accomplishment of the highest order to come in 1st, like coming in at the #1 position in music charts.
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1. The Queen's Gambit (2020)
TV-MA | 57 min | Drama
Orphaned at the tender age of nine, prodigious introvert Beth Harmon discovers and masters the game of chess in 1960s USA. But child stardom comes at a price.
Stars: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chloe Pirrie, Bill Camp, Marcin Dorocinski
Votes: 554,332
2. Pawn Sacrifice (2014)
PG-13 | 115 min | Biography, Drama, History
Set during the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers and his own struggles as he challenges the Soviet Empire.
Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Tobey Maguire, Liev Schreiber, Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg
Votes: 49,290 | Gross: $2.44M
3. The Dark Horse (2014)
R | 124 min | Biography, Drama
A brilliant but troubled New Zealand chess champion finds purpose by teaching underprivileged children about the rules of chess and life.
Director: James Napier Robertson | Stars: Cliff Curtis, James Rolleston, Kirk Torrance, James Napier Robertson
Votes: 6,586 | Gross: $0.06M
4. Fresh (1994)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Death and violence anger a twelve-year-old drug courier, who sets his employers against each other.
Director: Boaz Yakin | Stars: Sean Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Samuel L. Jackson, N'Bushe Wright
Votes: 14,595 | Gross: $8.09M
5. Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
PG | 109 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
A prepubescent chess prodigy is encouraged to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.
Director: Steven Zaillian | Stars: Joe Mantegna, Ben Kingsley, Max Pomeranc, Joan Allen
Votes: 42,419 | Gross: $7.27M
6. Queen of Katwe (2016)
PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
A Ugandan girl sees her world rapidly change after being introduced to the game of chess.
Director: Mira Nair | Stars: Madina Nalwanga, David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, Martin Kabanza
Votes: 18,688 | Gross: $8.81M
7. Dangerous Moves (1984)
100 min | Drama, Sport, Thriller
During the Cold War, the World Chess Championship clashed complete opposites - personal and political.
Director: Richard Dembo | Stars: Michel Piccoli, Alexandre Arbatt, Liv Ullmann, Leslie Caron
Votes: 1,486
8. Brainwashed (1960)
102 min | Drama, Sport, War
In 1938 Austria shortly after the Nazi occupation, a prominent Viennese intellectual, Werner von Basil, is arrested for smuggling art treatures out of the country and imprisoned by the ... See full summary »
Director: Gerd Oswald | Stars: Curd Jürgens, Claire Bloom, Hansjörg Felmy, Mario Adorf
Votes: 656
9. Life of a King (2013)
PG-13 | 100 min | Drama
Ex-felon, Eugene Brown, establishes a Chess Club for inner city teenagers in Washington, D.C.
Director: Jake Goldberger | Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr., Dennis Haysbert, George Dick, Thurston Hill III
Votes: 7,657 | Gross: $0.01M
10. Brooklyn Castle (2012)
PG | 101 min | Documentary
Amidst financial crises and unprecedented public school budget cuts, Brooklyn Castle takes an intimate look at the challenges and triumphs facing members of a junior high school's champion chess team.
Director: Katie Dellamaggiore | Stars: Je'Daiah Ballantyne, Michelle Ballantyne, Rochelle Ballantyne, Pamela Ballard
Votes: 1,017 | Gross: $0.22M
11. The Luzhin Defence (2000)
PG-13 | 109 min | Drama, Romance
Two worlds collide when an eccentric genius falls in love with a strong-willed society beauty.
Director: Marleen Gorris | Stars: John Turturro, Emily Watson, Geraldine James, Stuart Wilson
Votes: 4,706 | Gross: $1.05M
12. The Coldest Game (2019)
TV-MA | 102 min | History, Sport, Thriller
During 1962's Cuban missile crisis, a troubled math genius finds himself drafted to play in a U.S.-Soviet chess match -- and a deadly game of espionage.
Director: Lukasz Kosmicki | Stars: Bill Pullman, Lotte Verbeek, James Bloor, Robert Wieckiewicz
Votes: 12,556
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