Bobby Fischer Against The World (2011)

Liz Garbus examines the tragic and bizarre life of the late chess master from his troubled childhood through his rise to fame and his life as a fugitive.

Considered by many to be the greatest chess player to ever live, Bobby Fischer Against the World is the first and definitive documentary biography of the eccentric genius who rose from humble beginnings and captivated a world audience with his victory over Russia's Boris Spassky at the height of the Cold War. 

Official Trailer

Liz Garbus began her work on the film after Fischer's death in 2008 at the age of 64. She said of Fischer: "It's hard to imagine that in 1972, all eyes were on a chess match, but it does, in fact, seem to be the case. Bobby Fischer was this self-taught Brooklyn boy who took the New York chess scene and then the national chess scene by storm. And the Russians had been dominating the sport for decades. ... So for an American to have a real chance at beating that [Soviet] machine, this was big stuff. ... The symbolism of the match was enormous."

Available on DVD and on demand.

The Staunton Chess Set (1849)

The Staunton chess set is composed of a particular style of chess pieces used to play the game of chess. According to the rules of chess, this style is to be used for competitions. The journalist Nathaniel Cooke is credited with the design, and they are named after the English chess master Howard Staunton. Although Nathaniel Cooke has long been credited with the design, it may have been conceived by his brother-in-law and owner of the firm, John Jaques.

The first 500 sets were hand signed and numbered by Staunton. This style of set was first made available by Jaques of London in 1849, and they quickly became the standard. They have been used around the world since.

Jewish Chess Paintings Chess--Al Andelus, 13th Cen CE (Unknown)

Muslims, Christians, and Jews co-existed for over seven centuries in the geographic area known as Al-Andalus or Moorish Spain and Portugal.

Jews formed an iota, yet significant ethnic minority in the Iberian Peninsula, constituting about 5% of the total population in Al-Andalus.

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A Jew and a Muslim playing chess in 13th century al-Andalus.

Cardinal at a Game of Chess ( SALVATORE FRANGIAMORE (ITALIAN, 1853-1915))

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Salvatore was born in Mussomeli on March 25, 1853 and died in Rome in February 1915.

He took his first steps to art in his native land which, however, soon in 1869, left on the advice of his patron and cultural patron, Don Giuseppe Giudici.

Pawn Sacrifice

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 World Chess Championship 1972 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 flashes back to 1951 Brooklyn, where Fischer's mother, a Soviet Jewish immigrant, explains to 6-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.

Bobby immerses himself in chess and becomes an expert player. 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. Bobby enters the world of professional chess championships and soon becomes the youngest grandmaster ever.

You can watch the whole film on Netflix UK.

First English Chess Book

In 720, the game spread across the Islamic world. Already, in 1474 the first chess book in English was created and named ‘The Game and Playe of Chesse’, by the way, this book was the second book to be published in the English language (The Chinese had published "chess" books before this.). And gradually, there were printed books, guides and lot of chess materials, that transformed chess into a new level that brought more fame to this game. 

The Game and Playe of Chesse is a book by William Caxton, the first English printer. Published in the 1470s, it was for a time thought to be the first book published in English, but that title now goes to Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, also by Caxton. It was based on a book by Jacobus de Cessolis. 

Despite its title, Caxton’s The Game and Playe of the Chesse does not, in fact, have much to say about a game or about playing it. First printed in 1474, then reprinted in 1483 with woodcuts added, it is instead a translation of Jacobus de Cessolis’ thirteenth-century political treatise, the Liber de moribus hominum et officiis nobilium ac popularium super ludo scachorum (The Book of the Morals of Men and the Duties of Nobles and Commoners, on the Game of Chess).1 Neither the Liber nor Caxton’s translation contains any diagrams of boards set up for play, nor does the text itself suggest any advice for a player’s improvement. Instead, the work uses the chessboard and its pieces to allegorize a political community whose citizens contribute to the common good. Readers first meet the king, queen, bishops (imagined as judges), knights, and rooks, here depicted as the king’s emissaries. They are then introduced in succession to the eight different pawns, who represent trades that range from farmers to messengers, and include innkeepers, money-changers, doctors, notaries, blacksmiths, and several other professional artisans and tradesmen. Paired with each profession is a list of moral codes. The pawn who represents the money-changer, for example, handles gold, silver, and valuable possessions, and thus “ought to flee avarice and covetyse, and eschewe brekyng of the dayes of payment” (3.600–601). The knights, entrusted with the safety of the realm, must be “wyse, lyberalle, trewe, strong, and ful of mercy and pyté” (2.448–49). The queen, charged with giving birth to the community’s future ruler, should take care to be “chaste, wyse, of honest lyf, wel manerd” (2.136). And so on. These pairings reinforce the idea of a kingdom organised around professional ties and associations, ties that are in turn regulated by moral law, rather than around kinship. Read more here.

Chess Friends (Ting Zhou)

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Ting Zhou is a multi-disciplinary designer/artist who specializes in graphic design, motion graphics, scientific visualization and photography. Originally from China, she graduated from the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication in 2007 with a degree in art design.

Chess Friends Playing Xiangqi