Pawn Sacrifice

Pawn Sacrifice
File:Pawn Sacrifice Poster.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Edward Zwick
Produced by	Gail Katz Tobey Maguire Edward Zwick
Screenplay by	Steven Knight
Story by	Steven Knight Stephen J. Rivele Christopher Wilkinson
Starring	Tobey Maguire Peter Sarsgaard Liev Schreiber Michael Stuhlbarg Lily Rabe Robin Weigert
Music by	James Newton Howard
Cinematography	Bradford Young
Edited by	Steven Rosenblum
Production companies	Gail Katz Productions MICA Entertainment Material Pictures PalmStar Media
Distributed by	Bleecker Street
Release dates	September 11, 2014 (2014-09-11) (TIFF) September 16, 2015 (2015-09-16) (United States)
Running time	115 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$19 million
Box office	$6 million

Pawn Sacrifice is a 2014 American biographical 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 Reykjavik, 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.

Plot

The film starts with Bobby Fischer in a paranoid state ripping apart everything in his room, apparently to check if he is spied upon by the Russians. There is a knock on the door and Bobby is afraid to open the door. He somehow reluctantly opens the door. We are then taken into flashback, where Bobby is 6 years old in the middle of party at his home. He stares out the window and it appears to him that someone is spying on him. He informs his mother about this. His mother tells him that people want to know what they are doing and mum's the word. His mother is a migrant from Moscow and supports communism. She is of the opinion that the revolution is about to begin, which is against the American capitalist principles and hence they are spied upon.

His sister takes him to bed, unable to sleep and to counter his loneliness he finds solace in chess. He immerses himself into chess that his worried mother takes him to a chess club and introduces to Nigro. She hopes that if he is defeated by someone maybe his obsession with chess will wear off. Although Nigro defeats him, he convinces his mother that she should allow him to pursue chess. Nigro starts coaching him and from there onwards his journey in professional chess championship begins. Without fail every month he goes through Russian chess magazines which enlists moves of the latest games amongst the grand masters (mostly Russian) and evaluates them very minutely. Over a period of time he becomes the youngest grand master ever. His obsession with the game always keeps him at the edge of his sanity and results in frequent outbursts. His mother reluctantly leaves him, since he demands his own space so that he can focus on his game. He goes to Russia (in reality, Curaçao) for a championship. There he observes that the Russian grand masters are drawing games without much of effort and realizes that this is an elaborate arrangement to isolate Fischer from the championship. He accuses that the format along with the collusion, makes it impossible for a non-Soviet player to win the championship. He gets angry at this and quits the tournament and ends his professional career. When he returns to US he comes across a government lawyer, Paul Marshall, who says that he will help him fix the tournament rules. He offers his services free of cost on the pretext that he is a patriot and would want to give Bobby a fair chance to win the tournament.

When the format of the game is fixed, Bobby 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 is assigned another role of keeping Bobby's volatile nature under control. Bobby is back to his winning ways. He starts making demands at the very last moment and he is so adamant with his demands that he threatens to quit chess over trivial things such as the number of oranges he can carry on the plane. He quickly overcomes most of the grand masters across the world and gets close to the world championship. He becomes a celebrity with the American public. An overconfident Bobby loses against Boris Spassky in California, which he simply cannot come to terms with. He has only one obsession now: to defeat Spassky.

Finally, Bobby is to play a 24 match series with current world champion Boris Spassky in Reykjavík, Iceland. It is the height of the Cold War era and the US is desperate to challenge the intellectual capital of Russians, which is represented by their dominance in the world of chess. The US government sees Bobby as someone who can take on the Soviet machine and possibly crush them. The White House is now closely monitoring his progress. Inch by inch, the self inflicted pressure to win every game drives Bobby towards insanity. His sister is very worried about him since she is not able to meet him or call him over the phone. She meets Paul and he reads out some of Bobby's recent letters to her. She tells him that she has consulted her psychiatric friend regarding Bobby's mental state reflected from his letters. She suspects that Bobby is under severe mental stress and suggests Paul should do something. Paul, under severe pressure from the White House, is reluctant to acknowledge her conclusive evidences.

Bobby starts making more and more demands, like the prize money be doubled, his food be prepared in the plane in front of him, etc. At the same time, he is under the paranoia that the Soviets are secretly planning to kill him because they know that he would defeat Boris. Lombardy quits since he is not able to handle him anymore. Paul does everything in his capacity to fulfill all his demands. On the day of their departure, Bobby runs from the airport when he sees reporters. To the utter embarrassment of the US Government, he misses the opening ceremony. The White House now intervenes and arranges a discrete departure for him away from the public eyes. The President of the US has installed a TV in his office, for now this is a new front opened in the era of the Cold War and the stakes are very high as the US has lost on the Vietnam front. Reporters and fans all assemble at Reykjavík to witness the historic moment. Lombardy returns to help Bobby before the start of the match. The match begins. Bobby is easily distracted by small noises like someone coughing in the audience, rolling cameras, or the pawns on the chess board. Boris wins the first game. To everyone's dismay, Bobby comes up with another list of demands: no audience, noiseless camera, match in the table tennis room. He doesn't turn up for the second game and Boris wins through forfeit. He thinks that he is a victim of Soviet plan to kill him and we see him from the first scene where he is ripping apart everything in his room.

Boris concedes to all his demands to make sure the match continues so that he can win the match in the right spirit. The next game is held in the ping pong ball court, with a noiseless camera. Bobby wins this game by surprising Boris with his unconventional opening moves and tactics. The American contingent is thrilled with Bobby's victory. Game four is drawn but Bobby wins game five after Spassky begins showing signs of paranoia as well. With the match now tied, many begin speculating the next game will determine the outcome of the match. Game six is held in the original room in front of the audience. Bobby plays another opening he has never played before, surprising the audience. Bobby plays an amazing game and Spassky, in surprise and admiration, leads the applause. Bobby ultimately goes on to win the match. Although he wins the match, his delusions have destroyed him completely and he goes into self-imposed exile.

Cast

• Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer
  • Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick as teenage Bobby Fischer
  • Aiden Lovekamp as young Bobby Fischer
• Liev Schreiber as Boris Spassky
• Lily Rabe as Joan Fischer
  • Sophie Nélisse as young Joan
• Peter Sarsgaard as William Lombardy
• Michael Stuhlbarg as Paul Marshall
• Robin Weigert as Regina Fischer
• Conrad Pla as Carmine Nigro
• Évelyne Brochu as Donna
• Katie Nolan as Maria
• Edward Zinoviev as Efim Geller
• Brett Watson as Chief Arbiter Lothar Schmid

Title meaning

Director Edward Zwick explained the meaning of the movie's title: “You have Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon calling Bobby Fischer; you have Brezhnev and the KGB agents following Boris Spassky. Both of these men were pawns of their nations.”

Production

Principal photography began in early October 2013 in Reykjavík, Iceland. In mid-October, the remaining 41 days of shooting began in Montreal, Canada, wrapping in Los Angeles on December 11, 2013.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2014. On September 10, 2014, Bleecker Street acquired the U.S. distribution rights to the film, the company's first acquisition. The film was originally set to be released in the United States on September 18, 2015; however, it was pushed up to September 16, with wide releases in both America and Canada on September 25, 2015.

Reception

Box office

As of November 1, 2015, Pawn Sacrifice has grossed $2.4 million in North America and $3.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $6 million, against a budget of $19 million.

The film grossed $1 million in the opening weekend of its wide release, finishing 12th at the box office.

Critical response

Pawn Sacrifice has received generally positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 71%, based on 96 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Anchored by a sensitive performance from Tobey Maguire, Pawn Sacrifice adds another solidly gripping drama to the list of films inspired by chess wiz Bobby Fischer." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 65 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

See also

• List of books and documentaries by or about Bobby Fischer

External links

• Official website
• Pawn Sacrifice at IMDb
• Pawn Sacrifice at Box Office Mojo
• Pawn Sacrifice at Rotten Tomatoes
• Pawn Sacrifice at Metacritic
• Pawn Sacrifice at History vs. Hollywood