Chess Sets In The Movies

We wonder how many various chess sets we've seen on our screens over the years. Maybe even some of you guys have seen one of yours being used at one time or another. With the new Fischer Spassky movie just around the corner this coming fall, we wonder how many sets will be sold because of it, and really would love to know what sets they were supplied with for the movie and who the specific manufactures were. I know that we're all gonna be at the theatre the first day of release to get a real close look, but sadly won't be able to pause it. Guess we'll all be in the front row lol ! Any of you guys seen any of yours over the years in motion pictures ? 

Don't know the set, but I'd have loved to play on the movie set with this cast of characters...

Here's a better shot of the chess set at Rick's...

Here are some shots from Queen to Play, which I'd recommend if you haven't seen it.

Not that I know of.  But I did have a friend once who was a proud owner of one of those Star Trek 3D chess sets.  Never tried it myself.  I figure I have enough trouble with chess as it is without adding extra dimensions to it.  :-)

I had one of those during my college years. Looked great, but the geometry of the game in 3D wasn't nearly as balanced as it is in 2D.

As I recall, white could threaten mate in something like two or three moves, and there wasn't much black could do to avoid that line, so the rest of the game focused on attacking or defending that secenario. After a short while, it became a snoozefest.

Steve Mc Queen vs Faye Dunaway,in "the Thomas Crown affair",1968.Looks like it could be an ivory set..

Bogart was actually a decent chess player. He once drew Reshevsky in a simultaneous.

http://www.chessgames.com/player/humphrey_bogart.html

He was also a good sailor, so he knew what he was doing in "To Have and Have Not."

We never caught that flick, thanks CG and going to look for it on the net for purchase.

D2 I think I have two of them. Message me your address and I'll send you one if I do.

Here's a few more.

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The Knight playing chess with Death in "The Seventh Seal" is iconic.  Nearly as iconic is the "Casablanca" scene.  Bogart is playing solitary chess in front of Peter Lorre, who asks him, "You despise me, don't you?"  He doesn't even look up from the board.  "If I gave you any thought I probably would," he tells him.  

Also iconic, the chess match scene in From Russia With Love (picture #3). The villainous Kronsteeen was played by Polish actor, Vladek Sheybal, who spoke five languages. A real life hero, Sheybal was a member of the Polish underground during the war. Twice captured by the Germans, he escaped both times (before becoming a mastermind for SPECTRE).

Here's the complete scene from the movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdCo8UVxeXU

The chess position was from an actual game between Boris Spassky and David Bronstein played during the 1960 USSR championship. A brisk 23-move king's gambit (aka the SMERSH gambit) won by Spassky.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1034110

Bogart is playing solitary chess in front of Peter Lorre...

And the position was from one of Bogart's own correspondence games.

Sci-fi Chess Championship of the Eastern Gallactic Rim - Yoda vs. Mr. Spock

The Lion In Winter (1968)

They're playing with an historically correct chess set! The Lewis set was dated to the 12th century, and the time period in the film is Christmas 1183.

       I don't have movies but I have TV.  1st, Criminal Minds                                               

                                              BONES                                                                               

                                    The Dick Van Dyke Show                                                    

I do know that when I watched the HD re-release of the film "Nineteen Eighty Four" (the one with John Hurt as Winston Smith) , in the scene at the very end of the film where a chess board and pieces are shown you can clearly see that they used plastic pieces instead of wooden ones. They look like the better plastic pieces that resemble Cooke Staunton. The lines from the plastic molds are visible too.

In addition to the main topic you'd be interested to know that I've been taking many screenshots from video games where chess or chessboards can be found as props. Nearly always they are absolutely and utterly wrong in setup. This is even the case with games developed by Eastern European developers. I'll post the shots sometime.

Not one but two chess sets in the epic Blade Runner.

What's on your mind Sebastian?

Texas Rising series on the History Channel every episode has Sam Houston playing chess. This last episode had a rather close up of the set. This is before the days of the 1849 Staunton set.