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This is a must-see movie for everyone who loves chess, has kids, or just loves a good story. Very well done movie. You don't even have to know chess at all to enjoy it. A+!!

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Very good movie, top-notch film in every way! It has a great cast with Joe Mantegna and Joan Allen as Josh's (Max Pomeranc) parents, Ben Kingsley as Bruce Pandolfini and Laurence Fishburne as Vinnie, a speed chess player Josh meets in Washington Square. The book of the same name that the movie is based on is also very good, goes into more depth and includes a few things that were left out of the movie, such as their trip to Russia and the fathers search for Bobby Fischer.

i havent seen it yet but would love to where can i get it

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Yes, my favorite "chess" movie of all time, unfortunately there aren't too many to choose from.

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My wife and I both enjoy this movie.  It's definitly the best chess movie on the market that I've seen so far.  I still think it's strange that the boy in the movie is supposed to be the Chessmaster representative now (and a martial artist).  It's odd listening to Chessmaster's academy voiceover (with the real Josh) and seeing the kid in the movie. *shrug* I enjoy it

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As everyone else has already said, it's a great movie!  Also a great book, if you ever get the chance to read it :).

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Bloody brilliant!

Saddly, I've never seen this film.  I'll add it to my netflix list.

I once used this movie to motivate some kids I was teaching in a summer program organized by the local public library.  I often use it as an illustration for kids who don't play their best because they believe they are young and don't have to take chess seriously.  Great movie, I recommend it to everyone.

 This movie is AWSOME. I have been looking for a copy on D.V.D. Everyone should see the film. Just a little thing to say. When my dad and I play we will spend about a half an hour to 45 min. Before a piece is taken. No speed chess.When I fined a copy it's mine.

This is a great film, but in the UK they changed the title to the cheesy ' innocent moves '. YUK!!

 i read all the comments and it seems interesting, i'll check video shops and buy one..thanks to all..

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This movie thought me a lot about chess. I reccomend this movie to anyone of all ages intrested to play chess.

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I love this movie! My favorite part is "His parents gave him to me. All he does is play chess." "Certainly he goes to school?" "No." "You should be very proud of yourself." "I am." That guy is the Darth Sideous of chess.

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This movie is fantastic, both to non-chess players and the chess fanatic.  I can't find a way to not like it, as even my mom (who's never played chess) watched it with me and really enjoyed it.  Even though they only showed one real sequence of "real" chess, it's still good enough to please a chess fan like me.

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This movie influenced me to start playing chess.  It is one of my favorite movies of all time.  I highly recommend it.

I didn't hate this movie, but it isn't one of my favorite chess movies (those would be "The Seventh Seal" and "Shatranj Ke Khilari"). SFBF is a bit too schmaltzy for my taste.

This movie brings up some very interesting aspects of chess and life. I was taught by one of my parents who pushed me to play a very aggressive game. He also taught me the value of good sportsmanship. This movie shows you two children who take different paths in their learning of the game. In the end, Josh demonstrates that he is a good young man who will not take the "low" road. I've seen too many "chess parents" who live their failed lives as chess players through their kids. This can take the true joy and pleasure that comes from playing chess. As a professional musician, I see similar bad behavior in younger musicians who apply out of control egos to their craft. I have remained a nice guy and the rewards are far greater. This film really shows what most people miss when they hear a story about the latest chess prodigy on the nightly news. I have seen it man, many times and it still holds my interest. Great cast as well.

Chess is my life...teaching my two kids chess game as to develop their character and the very important is DISCIPLINE. frustrated chess player parents pushed thier son to play chess cuz...of thier own personal happines is a FAILURE, because their son can not experience the TRUE joy and pleasure that comes from playing chess,. as a parent we must motivate  them first.

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   I'm peruvian  in this country  Last year  I went to N.York to play chess at the same place  in the park . Where the movies showed ' Bobby Fisher',my son loved it.

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i love chess toomuch and i enjoyed from this . i hope that this site will improve the games to all

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I liked this movie a lot. The story is great - the chess played in the movie, not so much. I just can't see how a chess prodigy (Josh's opponent) in the final game would not have seen that his position was lost. Oh well - other than that small point - great fun.

 

I see someone also suggested "The Seventh Seal" - Now THAT is a fantastic movie. It may not have enough chess overtones for some peoples tastes though. The only chess movie I have seen where the chess actually played was GM class is a made for TV German movie - Black and White as Day and Night. The quality of the production is poor but the story, performances, and (most importantly) the chess played in the movie are fabulous. (German with English sub-titles). Schwarz und Weiss wie Tag und Nacht.

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This is a movie to encourage you to really enjoy and live chess like you do with basketball or football, I love how young kids get excited even if they don't understand the game yet, another movie that gave me the same feeling was Lushin's defense, althought for kids is a hard movie to understand (I translated the title into english from spanish, not so sure what's the original title) 

Love this movie.  It works on so many levels.

People please note that the seventh seal is not a movie about chess, it is a film about a soldier returning home from the crusades to a land infected by the plague, he meets Death in the beginning of the film and he promises to keep him alive for the duration of a played game, with the soldier winning his life back if he can beat him. It is more about the concepts of god, hell and the questionable life after death than anything, the chess playing is just more of a romantic theme.

 To those who may be disappointed finding out it's not all about the game itself.

 With searching for bobby fischer, it's very impressive, quite long, and it has Laurence Fishburne in it.

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this is a great movie.  maybe the best chess movie ever made.  my favorite aspect of the movie is the way it deals with the dicotomy of chess (tricotomy?  quad-cotomy) with the two totally different coaches...is chess a sport?  a science?  or an art?  or as the laura linney character thinks, "just a game."

 my favorite line, (after josh says "I can't see it")  "let me make it easier for you"  and bruce sweeps the pieces off the board onto the floor.

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Good story based on real events... must see for chess lovers of all ages!

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it has allready been said on this Forum - I found it one of the most thoughtful, inspirational, delightful, poingniant, experiences of my life

Movie was great, but I enjoyed the book even more.

I love this movie! One of my favorites.

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good movie

well, i haven't seen the movie but i will request it to my teacher in school who is teaching us to play chess.

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I love that movie, and can't get enough of it.

The movie is inspiering to me.

P.S. Sorry for all spelling, and I don't have the movie

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amazing movie!!

i've watched that movie 2 times and it was a great movie i love it it is very nice

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Very nice i loved it, but i could only watch half of it 5 years ago...

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great movie

To melzerth, the position that u love is stupid & it's fake & not instructional for the way you run it...

Actually, in this given position, it's not supposed to go like that cause :

1- If the pawns rush forward, unlike the description, black wins & doesn't lose , because he doesn't need to push his pawn like a fool, he will push it only untill white's pawn is on h6, & only at this moment the black king will go after the white pawn & he'll capture it plus he'll promote his own pawn...

BUT:

Knowing this fact , white isn't supposed to just push his pawn to help black win the game, but he'll push his pawn until the black pawn is on a4... When the black pawn reaches a4, the white king must just go for the black pawn to capture it on time before it promotes. BUT: here in this moment the black's king can't go after his own pawn & trying to promote it by force, cause he ll end up without being able to stop white's king from blockading & aslo he won't be able to stop white's pawn from promoting on the other side of the board...

SO, the only logical play from both sides in order to save their skins is that each of the kings run to the opponent pawn in order to stop the promotion leading to a fair & square perfect draw....

So actually,Josh's idea is stupid & not great at all & should had made him lost the game & never won it if the other player knew how to play chess...

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It is inspiring movie to be watched by kids who had a potential in chess. I was amazed by Pandolfini ways using visualization removing all the pieces on the board and make moves on mind.

I THINK BLACK WAS ABLE TO WIN???????????
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION

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This is an excellent movie.  Very inspiring.  A must see movie for fellow chess afficiandos.

OH MY GOD I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS MOVIE!!! 5 STARS RIGHT AWAY! Isn't this supposed to relic Josh Waitzkin's chess story or something like that?

This is a great movie. Not only about Chess.

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the film is ok not a masterpiece but like most people would like to see more chess films i sew a film about a year ago with that ted danson in that was better

this movie is awsome

Awesome movie. I own it and watch it about every year. Ben Kingsley, Lawrence Fishborne and gool 'ol Chaz. Terrific cast. I can't get enough of this movie. Highly recommended. Don't just rent it, own it! You'll watch it more than once.

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Absolutely fun and great movie.  All big time names in the cast.  I bought it via iTunes and have watched twice in two days.  The cast alone would make it worth it, but the theme of the coach still learning and the dad learning how to deal with defeat and LET his son lose -- and to let the kid does as he wants (like play blitz chess in the park).

Or the kid being very kind hearted.  What more could you ask for in a movie? Snippets of Bobby Fischer thrown in all the time are icing.  "Iceland being a bad place to play chess because they didn't have bowling alleys." 

Buy it!

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great movie

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Great Film!!!

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This is not a great Chess movie. It's is a great hart touching movie. To see a young boy be great in anything he put his mind to. Love this movie!

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The movie is watchable, but I cannot believe that one needed to twist

reality to make chess look exciting. My understanding is that the despotic nature

of Bruce Pandolfini in the movie has nothing to do with his true personality. 

There are a lot more dramatic and inspiring stories in chess that could make

it a great subject matter for a movie. Take the Kasparov vs Karpov rivalry.

By the way, both were child chess prodigies, achieving much more than

Josh Waitzkin, who quit chess not too long after the movie came out.

I'll add my positive review to the pile. This is my favorite Chess related movie.  I've watched it about five times.  I even made my girlfriend watch it (She has absolutely no interest in Chess.) and she thoroughly enjoyed it.  She teaches kids and wants to show it to her class.  Maybe I'll get her to learn the moves sometime.

can't wait to see the movie. However, Bobby Fischer in real life was a sore loser and a "pittiful" creature. At least that was said of him by NM Mike Petersen (chess.com screen name Zug) who got the privilige of meeting him

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Great movie ..!

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I would defiantly recommend this movie. You can for sure enjoy it even if you don't know anything about chess!

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I agree, good movie, it was about as much "about chess" as the movie Gone With the Wind is "about" the American Civil War. Its a backdrop. Its really a story about Josh Waitzkin and his relationship with his parents(mostly his father) and the life lessons he gets out of his chess experience.

I thought that it did present some interesting aspects of the seedy underbelly of real chess culture though, like the guys in the park who play for drug money an the other chess "kooks" who are chess savants, but are otherwise completely socially retarded(you know who you are out there - there is at least one in every club). That is the real chess I know and it is not often depicted accurately in films.

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I perosnally own the movie and it is excellent. Their is some great acting in this movie, plus its family friendly. Now that someone has mentioned the book I must own that to. I just wish a special feature on the dvd was the last game moves!

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NIce! I really liked it. It was really inspirational, and a nice theme too.

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NIce! I really liked it. It was really inspirational, and a nice theme too.

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A great movie that I enjoyed watching with my wife who does not play chess. I have seen it 4 times now and could watch it again. The script, cast, and production are all very well done.

Brian 

why buy this a) its already on youtube and its inaccurate while Waitzikin was a great rising young player Jeff Sarwer in reality was acknowledged by the real life Ben Kingsley character as the unrivaled once-in-a lifetime type prodigy.. not Waitzikin plius he recieved 1000% less training then Waitzikin

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Roma 60 said:

 i sew a film about a year ago with that ted danson in that was better

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0471768/

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 This is a very heartfelt, touching family movie. When I first saw it, I actually wasn't playing chess at the time because I just didn't have the head for it. It definitely brought chess back into my life. I love this movie dearly, and I have the book of it too. It is definitely a must see, even if you don't follow chess at all. :)

a great movie! loved it

This is one of the Best Movies on Chess i ever saw! I also read the book and its very very good!

good..

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great MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but i like the book better

I agree with the rest of the group. The movie is an awesome movie and I would reccommend the family to a nice movie experience together with popcorn to a great story of how Josh struggles with his two teachers styles, Pandolfini and Vinnie, and how he comes to terms with it internally.