"I didn’t know a priest could use bad language." -- Bobby Fischer

IM DanielRensch

Updated: Sep 22, 2015, 12:41 PM | 26

The marketing team for Pawn Sacrifice recently shared with us a clip from the upcoming movie. This clip is available ONLY HERE and ONLY on Chess.com! How sweet is that?

Enjoy and please share with your friends on Facebook, Twitter and the works!

Interesting, to say the least!

As a chess professional, my first instinct is to go into "criticism mode" of Maguire's setup of the board and comments, over-dramatizing what would certainly be a much more clerical task for the great Bobby Fischer (to remember a position and display a winning combination to his friend, GM and now priest Bill Lombardy). If such a conversation ever truly took place, it likely happened in their heads, reviewing the game blindfolded in post-mortem conversation.

And I'm sure it's unlikely he referred to a piece as being "loaded up like a machine gun," or that Lombardy was actually surprised by the final move ...Re3! pinning and winning the queen (and enough to curse out loud? A GM would have seen that coming of course).

That said, let's now take the chess fan perspective, or even further, let's take the "curious and casual fan, impressed by chess and Fischer's genius" point of view. From there, the point the scene was trying to convey about both Fischer's passion, will to win, and his unapologetic approach to crushing every opponent he and his teammates ever faced does the job! It does a great job!

And it's actually quite enjoyable to watch. I laughed out loud, surprised when Lombardy cursed and Fischer's clever response. Sort of proving to his friend that he's still a grandmaster who cares about winning and the truth on the chessboard, not just about peaceful relations.

Anyway, let me know your thoughts everyone! Thanks for watching and sharing

IM Daniel Rensch

Danny Rensch is an international master and Chief Chess Officer at Chess.com. After a successful scholastic chess career, Danny joined Chess.com as a co-founder in 2009. He directs the company's content, media partnerships, and professional chess events. Danny is an accomplished commentator and broadcaster, which he used to establish Chess.com's streaming and creator programs. He has channeled his lifelong passion for playing and teaching chess to advance Chess.com's mission of growing the game and helping people enjoy their lives through chess. With over 200 million registered users, Chess.com is the leading platform for playing and learning chess.

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"I didn’t know a priest could use bad language." -- Bobby Fischer

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