In Searching for BF why did Josh's teacher knock all the chessmen off the board?

I was surprised in the movie when Josh's teacher with his hand swept all the chessmen off the board onto the floor. Why? What was he trying to teach Josh? Was it some kind of board visualization?

And later, you recall, during the tournament Josh has a flash back to that moment, and things began to move forward for him then.

I'm not sure I really understand what visualization in chess is, especially looking at an empty chess board.

Did anyone understand what that's all about?

stwils

Because there is no spoon

I like spoons

i have no idea what the two above me are talking about (spoons), but yeah, i've always wanted to know this question ... does anybody know?

thanks for posting this loll, i was actually going to one day but i forgot, and when i saw the title i got so surprised lol.

More than just removing boundaries, as Dr. Haus posits, this is a memorization technique.  While I agree that its purpose in the film was mainly for dramatic effect, this exercise is not without merit.

I don't know that that particular thing happened but it's a known fact that Pandolfini is an advocate of board visualization. He has written about it and Hollywood dramatized it for effect. Gee, what a surprise considering how they've never done that before in any other movie. 

It was actually an over damatization of the concept of board visualization. The scene was set up to covey the idea of Pandolfini snapping the young Josh into visualizing the board with a rude removal of the pieces. He was trying to frighten the young Josh and snap him into concentrating. Of course, since it's Hollywood, instead of simply using an empty board or politely removing the pieces, the character uses a great big dramatic sweep of the arm, intended to startle the viewing audience. It was one of a few rather unrealistic moments in the movie. Leave it to Hollywood to bring physical action into a chess movie. What next, searching for kung fu bobby fischer?

he seems to like his House role a TAD too much

Hi Fellahs! Slightly off topic, but....  does anyone have a link, that will allow me to see this movie, for free? Thank you, in anticipation.

Visualization....

Many players, good strong players, in my area have always said visualization is a very important asset to have.  It seems as if his teacher made him visualize his position, and know his position.  Not just see it.

Good movie by the way, one of my favorites.

In Attacking Chess, Josh compares Ben Kingsley's portrayal to the real Bruce:

...my teacher Bruce Pandolfini, in his soft manner (let's not confuse the real Bruce with the somewhat tyrannical character Ben Kingsley played in the movie...

So we might infer that the real Bruce was not prone to sweeping the pieces off the board in dramatic fashion, but that this scene was contrived by the writers to give dramatic import to the idea of visualization.

There are many such instances throughout the film where reality is pushed a bit, but it still remains an engaging and delightful account of the youth of Mr. Waitzkin.

 Available on YouTube (divided into around 11 parts; you'll need to click each one individually after the previous one finishes playing):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBkUjl8OByM

Thanks Tim.

Hehe.

So how does one learn to truly visualize?  Any books? Thoughts?

stwils

Haus> Do you think that Bruce Pandolfini swept the pieces off the board on young Josh Waitzkin's board in actuality? That this happened?

Pandolfini confirms this scene was pure Hollywood--he's never knocked all the pieces off the board during a training session.

stwils> So how does one learn to truly visualize?  Any books? Thoughts?

There are alot of good tools out there. Chess Eye, Troyis, Concentric Squares, Knight Vision tours, Fritz drills etc. Of course, lower-rated players mostly lose because they don't examine all CHECKS and CAPTURES, not because they can't visualize eight ply deep, and the pawn ending in Searching For Bobby Fischer was easy to solve with a bit of endgame technique--"I move here, he moves there" wasn't necessary.

I'm working on improving my ability to visualize the board and see 4-5 moves into the future right now--I think that will give me an edge when calculating in complex positions and help me follow games in magazines without a board.