Chess of the Wind: The Lost Chess Film
When I was 8 years old, my babysitter would let me choose one movie from the local blockbuster to watch each fortnight. I chose Gordy because my favourite animal is a pig, and the premise of this film is about a pig who becomes president... of a multimillion dollar company (as a child, I believed he actually became the President of the United States of America!) I remember adoring this masterpiece of a film so much that when my dad picked me up, I asked him if I could have this movie for my birthday present, as well as a hot water bottle. Why a hot water bottle? Because i just thought they were pretty cool.
When my 9th birthday came around, I received a hot water bottle, however, Gordy was nowhere to be seen. My dad sat me down and told me that he searched everywhere for the VHS, but couldn't find it. I knew he would have tried his best so I was okay with it. Years went by and life went on. Finally, on my 19th birthday, I heard a knock on my door. My dad was there holding a present. I unwrapped it to discover that it was a DVD of Gordy! He told me that he never stopped looking for it. He remembered. This has turned into one of my favourite memories.
I put Gordy on straight away, and shockingly, the movie was actually quite awful. Some would even go as far to deem this movie to be hogwash. However, I love it all the same because of my dads efforts. I wrote all the above because, while reminiscing about this 'Lost movie' (Gordy was never an actual lost movie, but it was to me), I decided to research about other movies that had been lost and then rediscovered. While on this search, I stumbled onto a movie that was officially lost for 38 years!
Conveniently, for this blog about chess, the film is titled 'Chess of the Wind'. Within this blog, you will learn about the absolutely wild backstory to this film. Why did this film vanish? How was it rediscovered? Was Chess of the Wind better than Gordy? Did the film actually involve chess?! I hope you enjoy, because it truly is an unbelievable story.
Contents
- A Press Prosecution
- You Say you Want a Revolution
- The Long Search
- Censor-Shipped and Restored
- A Press Proclamation
- Plot Summary
- My Review
- Only One Move
- In Search of the Lost Chess Game
- Final Thoughts
Shatranj-e Baad (Chess of The Wind) was written and directed by Mohammad Reza Aslani, as his first feature film. Mohammad was excited to screen his debut movie in his home town, at the Tehran International Festival in 1976. However, to his dismay, instead of applause, the critics became hostile. They were visibly outraged by the films use of strong female leads, as well as the film containing homosexual content. There was also a mix-up in the order of the reels that affected the screening, which was either a technical issue or a deliberate act of sabotage.
The press conference after the film's first screening was later dubbed "a press prosecution", where Mohammad was labelled incompetent, among other things. Because of the poor reception Chess of the Wind received, any thoughts of a theatrical release in Iran were dashed. Still, Mohammad stubbornly attempted to screen it once more at a theatre; not one ticket sold.
A few later, in 1979, Iran entered the Islamic Revolution (Iranian Revolution), where the Pahlavi dynasty was overthrown. Ayatollah Khomeini began his regime by thanking women for "leading men", stating that "men get their inspiration from you (women)". Conversely, at the same time, Ayatollah Khomeini was accused dancing around the issue of women's rights. Soon after the Ayatollah gained power, he banned women from showing their hair or their body. This was a significant change, as the Pahlavi dynasty had previously banned veils from being worn in 1936, with police physically removing headscarves, before this prohibition was lifted in 1941.
Activities and events where men and women could mingle, such as cinema's were also banned, either by being shut down or set alight. This meant that Chess of the Wind was subsequently banned as well, because it depicted women who were unveiled. The film was thus considered to be destroyed or lost. Further-still, chess itself was even briefly banned after the revolution.
This films erasure would have been seen as almost the least of their worries at the time. There have been claims by the Islamic Government of there being 60,000 casualties during the revolution (historians believe this number was also spread for propaganda, with the real figure being between 2,000-3,000 casualties). Furthermore, Professor Shadi Mokhtari has gone on record in saying that "An authoritarian regime was replaced with a religious authoritarian regime". I am not going to pretend to know everything about the revolution, or the oppression that has transpired since. All I will say is that this must have been difficult for the lives of everyone in Iran, and I, in no way could even comprehend what the people of Iran must have gone through.
Mohammad Reza Aslani decided to stay in Iran. It took him another 32 years before he was able to direct another feature film, titled Atesh-e-Sabz (The Green Fire). Over the years, he searched for Chess of The Wind in vain, wondering if it was a lost cause.
In 2009 and 2010, his daughter, Gita Aslani Shahrestani decided that she was not going to let her father's legacy languish. While studying in Paris, Gita decided to make her PhD about auteur cinema in Iran, which conveniently included her dad's film. This gave her both time and resources to extensively search for Chess of the Wind. Sadly, while she did manage to find a few VHS copies of poor quality, Gita was unsuccessful in discovering the full film. One of these copies was so heavily censored that it's run time was only 50 minutes long (half the length of the actual film), making the story incomprehensible.
After searching the international film archives without luck, Gita asked her brother Amin (still living in Iran) to help. Amin searched in the Iranian laboratories and archives, yet it seemed as Chess of the Wind was nowhere to be found. They had both exhausted every avenue they had, and Chess of the Wind felt like it really was lost for good.
It was now 2014, 38 years since the full movie was last seen. The search had been dormant for 5 years. Amin, a filmmaker in his own right, was browsing a junk shop to buy props for a movie he was working on when he spotted a pile of old film cans. The shopkeeper had no idea what they contained and was simply selling them as decorative items. Unbelievably, what Amin discovered was a complete copy of his father’s long-lost film! He couldn't believe his eyes. He did what anyone would do in this situation... he pretended to know nothing about what he was purchasing and got them all for cheap!
You may believe that it was hunky-dory from here on out, where everything was on easy street. However, Chess of the Wind was, and still is banned in Iran, which meant that Iman and his father Mohammad needed to smuggle the prints out of Iran; a feat that even Tom Cruise would have deemed to be a mission impossible. Thankfully, with the help of Gita, the reels were shipped to a secret location in Paris, via a private delivery service.
There was quite a lot of damage on some of the reels when restoration of the film began. Luckily, this was overseen by Martin Scorsese’s non-profit organisation, The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, in association with the Cineteca di Bologna, who collaborated with Mohammad Reza Aslani over the next six years. One of the biggest challenges involved colour-grading, which required meticulous work, particularly on reels 9 and 10, where an orange-tinted effect was needed. Another challenge was the fact that the only copy of the soundtrack was from the film itself, because the scores and compositions were completely lost. This meant that the music needed to be extracted from the reels themselves. This was an important undertaking, as, according to Gita, her father is "very sensitive to sound", and so he "used sounds in his film as part of the narration".
Finally, some 44 years after its original premier, Chess of the Wind was featured at both the London Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival in October, 2020. These were trying times, however, if a revolution couldn't prevent this movie from being seen, a global pandemic certainly wasn't going to either. Upon its re-release, Chess of the Wind has received critical acclaim from the press, proclaiming the film a masterpiece! The consensus went from its initial hostility to rapturous praise and applause. It currently holds a 100% rating on rotten tomatoes, and Godfrey Cheshire (of RogerEbert.com) has called it "a nearly 50-year-old masterpiece virtually unknown till now". The long-awaited vindication has delighted Mohammad Reza Aslani, who stated “The rediscovery of this film is great for me. I was not expecting such a positive reaction".
Of course, I’m very happy this film is finally being viewed fairly, and not through a lens that values populist cinema and propaganda.
Mohammad Reza Aslani
Lady Aghdas rightfully believes that her vulgar and domineering stepfather, Hadji (Mohamad Ali Keshavarz) is attempting to seize her inheritance, and she will go to any lengths to stop him. However, there are other vultures surrounding her; some better at concealing their intentions.
Chess of the Wind is an exploration of power struggles, and how greed can grow into murder and betrayal, where no one is truly left unscathed.
When I began watching Chess of the Wind, my biggest concern was that it couldn't reach the heights of its incredible backstory and journey. This experience already happened to me when I rewatched Gordy. It wasn't able to live up to the hype I created. There was a lot of pressure riding on Chess of the Wind. Apart from having flashbacks, I read countless interviews and articles involving Chess of The Wind, and yet none mentioned chess. I was terrified that upon watching this film, I would discover that the word chess was mistranslated, and it turned out to be about checkers!
Many of my fears were because I refused to read any synopsis or plot summary about Chess of the Wind, as I wanted a spoiler free experience. I apologise that you won't be able to say the same, however, I assure you that my plot summary gives much less away than the several I read after the fact.
There was a constant tenseness throughout the film. Little music was used, so each time it started to play, it was palpable. There are several awful people throughout the movie, attempting to take advantage of an ailing woman, who wasn't so innocent herself. While the movie is slow, witnessing Iran, pre-revolution was quite captivating to watch, because it's a world that doesn't exist anymore. The power struggles shown in this film also seem to run parallel to what was happening in Iran at the time. It is wholly possible that the original critics who labelled the film as pointless and boring, were unable to see its impact and significance because they were living in it.
There are countless films, such as Birth of the Nation, Song of the South, Revenge of the Nerds, and Breakfast at Tiffany's, that have aged so poorly it becomes difficult to fathom that a time existed when they were loved and held little controversy. Rarely do you have a film that ages well because the world has changed. Chess of The Wind is one such occurrence. While films like Song of the South have been removed from circulation, Chess of the Wind is in the best place it has ever been. In fact, it can barely be classed as a renaissance, as it wasn't initially given a real chance to be seen.
The setting of the movie is almost entirely in a mansion, which is what many of the characters are fighting to inherit. Occasionally, there are scenes of washerwomen, gossiping outside about their lives; a nice contrast to the greed that takes place inside the mansion. Those scenes are some of the tamest in the film, yet were completely erased in the VHS version Gita found that had been edited down to 50 minutes.
I wouldn't go as far as other reviewers who labelled Chess of the Wind as a masterpiece, as the plot wasn't the driving factor in this film. However, it definitely lived up to the hype I had for it. I loved the imagery and was swept up in the intrigue, deception and the ultimate collapse, created by greed. Reluctantly, I will admit that it is objectively a better film than Gordy. And thankfully, while it wasn't overtly pushed in our faces, luckily there was a chess game in the film! While only one move was ever played in the movie, this board was shown in each critical moment of the film.
With only one move played in the film, I knew my work would be cut out for me to discover whether it was a real game, as well as the intention behind it. This became somewhat of an obsession of mine. What I knew was that, at about halfway into the movie, an unfinished chess game between Lady Aghdas and her stepfather Hadji was shown.
This was the position and move he made. I know this because I stared at that footage for longer than 28 seconds to figure it out.
Later on, Lady Aghdas notices that the chessboard has changed. Frustrated, she states to her handmaiden, Kanizak that she wanted to finish the game herself. Near the conclusion of the film, Kanizak walks up to the chessboard and aggressively swats the pieces onto the floor.
In Search of the Lost Chess Game
My search for this game was long and arduous. I thought that perhaps having a move would be enough to find this game, if it was in fact a real game. I had no idea that this one move inevitably was the issue at hand. I will say that I'm lucky this plight did not last 38 years (Although it did take a few months). While there were no records as to whether a real-life game was used for this film, I knew that many movies use a famous game that includes a brilliancy. There is a wonderful blog by @VOB96 about this, titled 'Iconic Chess Scenes in Fiction' that I recommend you check out.
Unlike most chess games in movies, such as Harry Potter, that will show a brilliancy, to my eyes, the game in Chess of the Wind did not. The one move shown was a simple Knight capture. I put this move into many chess databases and yet found nothing. I began to believe that this was just a random game played by two people on set, which would make for a lackluster ending to an otherwise incredible story.
Undeterred, I continued to search for answers. I found out that Houri Etesam was the art director and set designer, responsible for setting up the chess game in question. I attempted to contact him, as well as Mohammad Reza Aslani and Gita Aslani Shahrestani, in hopes that they could shed some light on this mystery, yet I haven't heard back. My search for a lost game within a lost film was becoming almost paradoxical. With 50 years having passed since this board was even set up, ironically, all seemed lost.
In a last-ditch effort, I sent a message to the best chess player I know (which could be taken in many ways) to see if he could help find it. @KevinChessSmith conveniently happens to have a database filled with over 10 million games. What he found was extraordinary! It turns out that there has only ever been one game that reached this position, and that game in question was between Nicolas Rossolimo and Paul Reissmann. Rossolimo was known for making stunning brilliancies, so I was instantly perplexed as to why I couldn't see one.
It turns out that the reason this game was so hard to find was because the move played in the movie to reach this position was different than in the actual game! Also, before there are people wearing tinfoil hats, telling me that perhaps it's a different game, this would be practically impossible. There are more unique chess positions than there are grains of sand on Earth. The fact that this position has only been reached once in a database with over 10 million games means that it is very evidently this game.
While the actual game is quite beautiful, it isn't very well known. It turns out to be from the 1960's, used for a movie set in the 1920's, which was filmed and lost in the 1970's, then found in the 2010's and finally released again in the 2020's. This technically makes it a 100-year journey! It was played between Grandmaster Nicolas Rossolimo and Paul Reissmann. While little is known about Paul, other than one reference to him being a master, Nicolas Rossolimo is a very fascinating man in his own right.
What am I supposed to do, trade in my romantic style and become a hunter of points at any price? No, I will not do so. I will fight for the art of chess. I shall not turn into a monster.
Nicolas Rossolimo
Nicolas Rossolimo (February 28, 1910 – July 24, 1975) has been labelled as the true artist of chess. In actual fact, he was an artist in life, having also been an accomplished musician, published author and a brown-belt in judo, all while working as a New York City taxi driver. Rossolimo was a Russian-born, seven-time Paris chess champion. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1953, not long after he emigrating to the United States, and then proceeded to win the U.S. Open Chess Championship in 1955.
Rossolimo is now best known for the Rossolimo Attack; an opening still played at the highest level to this day
The final position shown in the film was just before the brilliancy. At first, I had wondered if the brilliancy was purposely not shown. This may have been to suggest that the protagonist never got to make the stunning move. However, over time I have concluded that this was a happy little accident, as it would have made more sense for the Commissar to play the stunning move during the interrogation.
This led me to question Houri Etesam's familiarity with chess. On one hand, Houri chose to use such an obscure, hidden gem of a game, and then purposely place the white Queen and black Knight in a different position than the game it was based off. Afterwards, he designed the Knight capture by the Queen so that this game could transpose it into Nicolas Rossolimo's epic in one move. This would give the illusion that the film came up with an original game, while also highlighting that there was some level of chess knowledge involved.
Rossolimo's version
As you can see, in Rossolimo's game it is his (white's) move. This means that he can sacrifice his Queen like a legend. However, when Houri altered the position in an attempt reach the critical position in question, he ended up breaking the game entirely. His subtle move change, where the Knight is captured, shifted who's turn it was. This made it black's move instead.
Chess of the Wind's version
This might not have seemed like a big deal at first glance, however, this one change not only stops the brilliancy from being played, but also places white in a much worse position. As shown above, had the game continued, their F6 Knight would have been captured! This means that the game seen for only a few brief moments in the film, while well intended, never actually highlighted that there was going to be any stunning move on its way.
Furthermore, I discovered that only a few months before the filming of Chess of the Wind, Rossolimo tragically died at the aged of 65, after falling down a flight of stairs. It is possible that his untimely passing likely resulted in a brief resurgence of his greatest win, which may have been a reason it was seen by Houri Etesam, and thus chosen for the film.
What would happen if Reissmann had taken Rossolimo's Queen
Option A
Option B
As you can see, what made Rossolimo's move spectacular was that the Queen could be taken with two different pawns, however, if Reissmann captured the Queen with either, checkmate would soon follow!
A Modern Chess Engine's version
From a human lens, Rossolimo's move is more than enough to secure the win in spectacular fashion. However, a modern chess engine is just like "Take the Knight", which loses the flashiness of Rossilimo's Magnum Opus (if the Queen is taken, it becomes the same as option B, with checkmate in two). It's still a nice move; however, it's not one that someone would intentionally put in a movie. Furthermore, while Houri may have created a blooper by breaking the game, I do believe Rossolimo's game was a very fitting choice for the film. Simply put, it mirrored the movies sentiments that in order to make the King fall, a Queen may need to be sacrificed.
I had so much fun learning and researching about Chess of the Wind, and all that came with it. While Chess of the Wind may have gone on the longest possible scenic route to be seen, with many trials and tribulations, in the end, it became even stronger for it. I also adore that not only has this lost movie been rediscovered, but that Rossolimo's game was discovered in this film in the process, like a story within a story within a story.
To be honest, I feel quite proud that I found a goof in a movie that no one would have ever spotted before. This is most likely due to the movie being lost for the majority of its 50 years on Earth, as well as my doubt that anyone would go to these lengths to recreate a barely shown chessboard, and then study it to their wits end. Some might even say that you would need a friend that has a chess database with over 10 million games to find it (which didn't exist when Chess of The Wind was made). It is truly ironic that I never would have found this game without the advancement of technology, and yet, these very advancements also found a better alternative that Rossolimo could have played. So, while Rossolimo's move is still brilliant to the human lens, this could be another reason this game is less spoken of now.
I would joke that with this goof, I now award the film zero stars, however, it's actually made me appreciate it even more. In truth, chess itself wasn't the focal point of the film, and this mistake only highlights that their use of chess was meant to be seen as more of a metaphor. It is so fitting that this chess move by Rossolimo, which has been dubbed on YouTube as a "Forgotten Chess Brilliancy" was 'forgotten' in this movie, and that both the film and the chess game needed extensive work to be restored.
Finally, my favourite part of this story is that Mohammad's children found Chess of the Wind for him. I guess it's true that one person's junkshop is another person's treasure. They, just like my dad with Gordy, spent years searching, and even when all felt lost, Gita and Amin never gave up. It is such a beautiful testament to how films can connect families, and why I am so glad that this film was found and restored. As cynical as I can be at times, I do love a happy ending. My dad taught me chess and would always say that you never fail if you try, in anything in life. Both his chess lessons and his life lessons lead me to write this blog, so every part of this feels like a win.
Thank you so much for reading my blog. I hope you all have a beautiful day!
