Bobby Fischer was such an iconic American player that many a freshman dorm room has been decorated with posters of him, deep in thought as he stares at the board. The idea, in this case, is that he won’t be able to easily untie himself by advancing or even giving back the extra pawn; [3], The film grossed $1 million in the opening weekend of its wide release, finishing 12th at the box office. U.S. President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger closely monitor and encourage Bobby's progress. [13], Pawn Sacrifice has grossed $2.4 million in North America and $3.1 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $5.6 million,[4] against a budget of $19 million. Pawn Sacrifice is a look at how two superpowers in the midst of an ugly Cold War let Bobby be, as they used him and his Russian opponent Boris Spassky (Schreiber) to fuel their own agendas. Bobby enters the world of professional chess championships and soon becomes the youngest grandmaster ever. Fischer left the world of competitive chess. Despite her worries that chess is becoming an obsession, his mother takes him to an adult chess club, where he impresses the resident chess master and is accepted as a student. Erupting in a rant that this system makes it impossible for a non-Soviet player to win the championship, Bobby quits the tournament and gives up chess. When Bobby returns to the U.S., lawyer Paul Marshall offers to help him modify the tournament rules, working pro bono to give Fischer a fair chance to win future tournaments. Really, it doesn’t feel like Pawn Sacrifice hits its stride until it cuts to black at the end and displays some title cards explaining what happened to Fischer after the notorious match. At the height of the Cold War, Soviet domination of the World Chess Championship is being exploited for propaganda as proof that the Communist system is superior to American democracy. The main idea here is to sacrifice a pawn and to create a passer, which then promotes to a Queen and recaptures all other pawns and/or mates the king. Two decades earlier, in 1951 Brooklyn, Fischer's mother, a Soviet Jewish immigrant, explains to 8-year-old Bobby that the FBI has her under surveillance because she supports Marxist revolution in the U.S. She coaches Bobby on what to say to the FBI if he is ever approached. Both of these men were pawns of their nations. 2021 Bustle Digital Group. However, his delusions worsened, and he went on to forfeit his title and died in 2008 as a fugitive from U.S. prosecution. Pawn Sacrifice is a very good biographical thriller. Fischer is born to a Russian Jewish mother, who at the height of McCarthyism in the 1950s is being spied upon for her Communist leanings. His title was therefore automatically forfeited to Karpov, and Fischer left the world of competitive chess. [12], Released on home media on December 22, 2015, the film made $1.1 million in DVD and Blu-ray sales over its first few months. The film is quite budgetary, so take a chess consultant, pay him a fee, he will correct your position. Bobby is easily distracted by small noises from the audience, rolling cameras, and the hard sound of the chessboard, which leads him to make extreme demands for silence and fewer distractions, which could cause another forfeit. Tobey Maguire stars as the player at the apex of his career, embroiled in a high-stakes chess match against an opponent from the Soviet Union. A pawn sacrifice can be used to block the center, a file or a diagonal, hence restricting the opponent’s pieces. 'Pawn Sacrifice' chronicles Fischer's journey from Brooklyn to capture the imagination of the world. Pawn Sacrifice review – Bobby Fischer biopic is a bit stale, mate ... – but because its high-end chess reference suggests a treatment more oblique than the one this movie delivers. [15], Spassky himself has called the film "weak" and said that it has "no intrigue"; he noted that the film misrepresents how and why he agreed to continue the match after Fischer failed to show up for the second game. It follows Fischer's challenge against top Soviet chess grandmasters during the Cold War and culminating in the World Chess Championship 1972 match versus Boris Spassky in Reykjavík, Iceland. [17], List of books and documentaries by or about Bobby Fischer, Sacrifice as a common chess move, often with pawns, "Tobey Maguire's Material Pictures Expands with New Backer Onboard", "How does the title of "Pawn Sacrifice" highlight the intense political stakes underlying 1970s chess? The famed player reappeared in 1992, winning a match in Yugoslavia against Boris Spassky. Bobby wins the third game by unconventional tactics. "[14] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". But Fischer was only 29 at the time of the world championship represented in the film, and he lived until the age of 64. This type of ending can sometimes come around in an even rook and pawn vs rook and pawn endgame. While that game ended in a draw, Beth ends up finding a different move that leads to her win. During a tournament in Santa Monica, California, Bobby loses to Soviet grandmaster Boris Spassky, the world champion. Chess Championship at age 14 in 1958 ( Biography.com ). But this month Fischer's legacy gets a significantly bigger recognition, as the film Pawn Sacrifice brings the player's story to the big screen. ", "Toronto Film Festival Lineup Includes Denzel Washington's 'Equalizer,' Kate Winslet's 'A Little Chaos, "Bleecker Street Acquires Ed Zwick's Bobby Fischer Biopic", "Анатолий Карпов: Спартаковцы сделали мне много гадостей", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pawn_Sacrifice&oldid=1011046761, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 8 March 2021, at 18:53. But this month Fischer's legacy gets a significantly bigger recognition, as the film Pawn Sacrifice brings the player's story to the big screen. The chess positions are simply idiotic. Game four is a draw, but Bobby wins game five after Spassky himself begins showing paranoia signs. "[6], Principal photography began in early October 2013 in Reykjavík, Iceland. The film received generally positive reviews, with many critics praising Maguire's performance, but grossed only $5 million worldwide against a budget of $19 million. In game six, Bobby uses an opening he has never played before, surprising the audience. It was the most widely publicized chess matches of all time, and while I won't give away the ending, its result was culturally significant enough that they're making a movie about it. Fischer largely stopped publicly playing chess after the 1972 match, and in 1975 he refused to defend his title against Soviet Anatoly Karpov because he vehemently disagreed with the World Chess Federation (FIDE) about the regulations surrounding the match. Pawn on the 7th. Bobby loses the first game and fails to appear for the second, losing it by forfeit. Pawn Sacrifice is a 2014 American biographical drama film about chess player Bobby Fischer. This small-scale piece is the story of Bobby Fischer, the American chess genius who became the world champion in 1972 after beating the reigning champion Boris Spassky in a 24-match tournament in Reykjavik Iceland. 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