Pawn Sacrifice
| Pawn Sacrifice | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Edward Zwick |
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| Screenplay by | Steven Knight |
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| Music by | James Newton Howard |
| Cinematography | Bradford Young |
| Edited by | Steven Rosenblum |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Bleecker Street |
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Release date
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Running time
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115 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $19 million |
| Box office | $5.6 million |
Pawn Sacrifice is a 2014 American biographical drama film. It is based on the true story of Bobby Fischer's challenge against top Soviet chess grandmasters during the Cold War and culminating in the 1972 World Chess Championship match versus Boris Spassky in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was directed by Edward Zwick and written by Steven Knight. The film stars Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer, Liev Schreiber as Boris Spassky, Lily Rabe as Joan Fischer, and Peter Sarsgaard as William Lombardy. It was released in the United States on September 16, 2015.
The film starts with an adult Bobby Fischer in a paranoid state, worried he is being spied upon by the Soviets. The film flashes back to when Fischer is 6 years old, the late 1940s, and he is shown even then feeling a general sense of paranoia. His mother, a Russian immigrant, supports his general fears, telling him she thinks a socialist revolution could begin in the U.S. and hence they are spied upon.
He immerses himself into learning and becoming an expert chess player. His mother, worried that chess is becoming his obsession, takes him to an adult chess club. He impresses the resident chessmaster and is accepted as a student. His coaching leads him into the world of professional chess championships. He soon becomes the youngest grand master ever. Personal tensions lead to frequent outbursts. He enters a championship match in Bulgaria where he senses that they are trying to isolate him, and alleges collusion, which he feels makes it impossible for a non-Soviet player to win the championship. He quits the tournament and ends his professional career.
When he returns to the USA, a lawyer says that he will help him modify the tournament rules, offering his services free of cost to give Fischer a fair chance to win future tournaments. Fischer re-enters the world of professional chess. He selects William Lombardy, a former World Junior Chess Champion who is now a Catholic priest, as his second. Lombardy tries to calm Fischer's excessive demands, which leads Fischer back to winning tournaments.
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Wikipedia