As a costume drama, this movie is a success.
The decor is marvelous, the dialogues intense and the acting of top-level.
But as a chess film this makes absolutely no sense.
It's like a film about a chef cook that tries to combine salmon with rice cakes or pancake syrup.
On the other hand, it is nice that it introduces the audience to some concepts of chess - chess notation (the 'recipe') and some ingredients like the isolated queen's pawn, quiet moves, mating net, and rook sacrifice.
But as a chess player I can confirm that the board setups don't make any sense. One of the rook moves is illegal since it's pinned.
And in the final game, only an amateur would play gxh3 after Rh3. Because any professional would see that trap. With a piece up there are plenty of good moves for white, for example the bishop is hanging. No way black can win that.
In other words, the movie is called Luzhin Defense but there is no Luzhin Defense. That's what the chess player is watching for!
So that's basically the only criticism I have: if you make a chess film, the chess has to be correct. And to show a world-champion level game, the true brilliance has to be found. Because to us this is a scam.
It's not that hard with plenty of chess coaches and computer engines around. They should have done a bit more consulting with John Speelman at the time if the rook sac is all he was able to give them!
The decor is marvelous, the dialogues intense and the acting of top-level.
But as a chess film this makes absolutely no sense.
It's like a film about a chef cook that tries to combine salmon with rice cakes or pancake syrup.
On the other hand, it is nice that it introduces the audience to some concepts of chess - chess notation (the 'recipe') and some ingredients like the isolated queen's pawn, quiet moves, mating net, and rook sacrifice.
But as a chess player I can confirm that the board setups don't make any sense. One of the rook moves is illegal since it's pinned.
And in the final game, only an amateur would play gxh3 after Rh3. Because any professional would see that trap. With a piece up there are plenty of good moves for white, for example the bishop is hanging. No way black can win that.
In other words, the movie is called Luzhin Defense but there is no Luzhin Defense. That's what the chess player is watching for!
So that's basically the only criticism I have: if you make a chess film, the chess has to be correct. And to show a world-champion level game, the true brilliance has to be found. Because to us this is a scam.
It's not that hard with plenty of chess coaches and computer engines around. They should have done a bit more consulting with John Speelman at the time if the rook sac is all he was able to give them!