Shakhmatnaya goryachka

Recently one of my readers emailed me a suggestion for an article. The nineteen minute silent movie Chess Fever (Shakhmatnaya goryachka) by the Russian film director Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin can be watched online, at Google Video.

The Russian film director Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin (1893-1953) developed influential theories of montage. He's considered to be one of the three big masters of Russian silent cinematograpy, together with Sergei Eisenstein and Aleksandr Dovzjenko.

According to the Dutch Wikipedia Chess Fever ('Schaakkoorts') from 1925 is his first film, but the English version also mentions Hunger... Hunger... Hunger from 1921.

For us chess players Chess Fever is especially interesting, because a number of famous names can be seen in the movie. Except for Boris Barnet, who plays the main character, the cast consists of: Ernst Gr?ɬºnfeld, Richard R?ɬ©ti, Carlos Torre, Jos?ɬ© Ra?ɬ?l Capablanca, Frank Marshall, Rudolf Spielmann and Frederick D. Yates. This is because the film was shot during (and at) the 1925 Moscow chess tournament.

So, have a look!