MARK RUBERY CHESS

The late American grandmaster Larry Evans, a onetime second and friend of Bobby Fischer, related the following story on how chess had a brief brush with Hollywood:

‘Milos Forman, who directed ‘One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, ‘Amadeus’ and other award-winning films, recalls his attempt to make a movie about the Fischer-Spassky title match in 1972. Actor Peter Falk (of the TV series ‘Columbo ‘fame) bought the rights to a book about this epic Cold War encounter and wanted Forman to direct it. “I’ll make the film in a minute, but only under one condition,” wrote Forman in his 1994 memoir ‘Turnaround’. “Spassky and Fischer must play themselves.”

Spassky readily agreed, but Fischer had to be wooed. Disguised in a cap and sunglasses, he met Forman at a Los Angeles hotel in 1977 and immediately turned on his radio in case someone tried to bug their conversation.

“He was friendly, very inquisitive and wanted to know all about how movies were made,” notes Forman, who invited him to the set of ‘Hair’ which he was shooting in Barstow. To avoid attracting attention, Fischer showed up in the middle of the night.

“We met a few more times, but I finally realized that his personality wasn’t compatible with the rigors of movie-making, and I abandoned the project,” sadly concluded the legendary director.’

However, there was at last a film on this subject when ‘Pawn Sacrifice’, directed by Edward Zwick and starring Tobey Maguire (of the Spiderman franchise) as Bobby Fischer was released in 2014 and was promoted as follows…

‘Taking place during the height of the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers when he challenges the Soviet Empire.’ Pawn Sacrifice’ chronicles Fischer’s terrifying struggles with genius and madness, and the rise and fall of a kid from Brooklyn who captured the imagination of the world.’