Frantic Chess Players

A board game of chess has been widely regarded as a quite peaceful competition of intellects. However, sometimes even chess players display not only skillful combinations, but hot temper too. Such highly emotional moments have been also exploited by filmmakers. Here, several examples of fictional chess players, who went out of control. It should be noted that this game was highly popular in the Soviet Union. No wonder that its film directors more than once referred to chess. By the way, famous Soviet comedian Savely Kramarov participated in the below mentioned scenes of Twelve Chairs and Gentlemen of Fortune.

Comedy Twelve Chairs («Двенадцать стульев», directed by Leonid Gaidai, produced by Mosfilm Studios, 1971) is a hilarious satire, depicting a treasure seeking adventure. A rogue protagonist pretends to be a chess master in order to make profit among amateurs. Once exposed, he has been forced to flee to his accomplice, who diligently waited for him in a boat. Criminal comedy Gentlemen of Fortune («Джентльмены удачи», directed by Alexander Seryj, produced by Mosfilm Studios, 1971) funnily narrates about an undercover agent, who leads a gang of real criminals in order to locate a stolen treasure. In his absence, they played (or rather gambled) chess with a hotel guest. As a result, the peaceful game turned into a rumble. Historical drama Sultan Beybars («Султан Бейбарс», directed by Bulat Mansurov, produced by Kazakhfilm Studios and Al Alamiya, 1989) is a joint production of the Kazakh SSR and Egypt. This epic tells a sad story of a Turkic slave, who eventually became a ruler of the medieval Egypt. In one scene, the ruler’s double was killed by his rival after a quarrel over the chess board. The would-be successor has been frightened awfully after he saw the real ruler, appearing sound and safe.

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