Pawn Sacrifice Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tobey Maguire

Tobey Maguire is excellent as the petulant Bobby Fischer. It seems to be a new creative step for him as an actor, but he does it very well. Maguire is perhaps best well known for his portrayal of Peter Parker and his alter-ego, Spiderman.

Answer: William Lombardy

William Lombardy was a chess prodigy in his own right. Then he retired from competitive chess and became a Catholic priest. This combination of great chess talent and mental maturity helped Fischer throughout the championship match. Throughout the film, Lombardy is depicted in his Catholic attire.

Answer: Spassky won.

Fischer had cruised through the candidates matches and appeared to be invincible. Stunningly, Fischer gambled upon a very speculative move, which made chess pundits around the world groan in unison.

Here is the score of the game: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3 Ba5 9. Ne2 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Bb6 11. dxc5 Qxd1 12. Rxd1 Bxc5 13. b4 Be7 14. Bb2 Bd7 15. Rac1 Rfd8 16. Ned4 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Ba4 18. Bb3 Bxb3 19. Nxb3 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 Rc8 21. Kf1 Kf8 22. Ke2 Ne4 23. Rc1 Rxc1 24. Bxc1 f6 25. Na5 Nd6 26. Kd3 Bd8 27. Nc4 Bc7 28. Nxd6 Bxd6 29. b5 Bxh2 30. g3 h5 31. Ke2 h4 32. Kf3 Ke7 33. Kg2 hxg3 34. fxg3 Bxg3 35. Kxg3 Kd6 36. a4 Kd5 37. Ba3 Ke4 38. Bc5 a6 39. b6 f5 40. Kh4 f4 41. exf4 Kxf4 42. Kh5 Kf5 43. Be3 Ke4 44. Bf2 Kf5 45. Bh4 e5 46. Bg5 e4 47. Be3 Kf6 48. Kg4 Ke5 49. Kg5 Kd5 50. Kf5 a5 51. Bf2 g5 52. Kxg5 Kc4 53. Kf5 Kb4 54. Kxe4 Kxa4 55. Kd5 Kb5 56. Kd6

The world groaned collectively after 29. ... Bxh2.

Answer: Fischer failed to show up and lost by forfeit.

Whether it was a clever psychological ploy or simple stubbornness, this result put Fischer at a deep disadvantage. Many pundits suggested that he could not come back from this deficit. In addition, Fischer had never beaten Spassky before.

Answer: Joan

Joan was an educator and advocate to Bobby. She bought him his very first chess set. She was well known for her advocacy for computer education. In the film, Joan was depicted as being Fischer's best advocate and supporter.

Answer: The Soviet Union

Boris Spassky was a child prodigy in his day. He was the consummate gentleman and all-around nice guy. Despite the objections of the Soviet Chess Federation, Spassky graciously agreed to Fischer's demands. In the film, Spassky was always accompanied by an impressive Soviet cortege.

Answer: Henry Kissinger

This may be only legend and arguably apocryphal but it was said in the film that Henry Kissinger phoned Bobby and said, "From the worst chess player in the world ~ to the best chess player in the world: Please play!"

At the time, as depicted in the film, Henry Kissinger was the Secretary of State under Richard Nixon and subsequently Gerald Ford.

Answer: Benoni Defence

Avid followers of the match were indeed surprised when Fischer essayed an opening not generally considered within his somewhat narrow repertoire.

It is marked sharp play and maneuvering in the middle game.

Fischer surprised the Soviet team by playing openings that were not in his general repertoire. This is a supreme example. Here is the score:

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 ed5 5. cd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Nd2 Nbd7 8. e4 Bg7 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O Re8 11. Qc2 Nh5 12. Bh5 gh5 13. Nc4 Ne5 14. Ne3 Qh4 15. Bd2 Ng4 16. Ng4 hg4 17. Bf4 Qf6 18. g3 Bd7 19. a4 b6 20. Rfe1 a6 21. Re2 b5 22. Rae1 Qg6 23. b3 Re7 24. Qd3 Rb8 25. ab5 ab5 26. b4 c4 27. Qd2 Rbe8 28. Re3 h5 29. R3e2 Kh7 30. Re3 Kg8 31. R3e2 Bc3 32. Qc3 Re4 33. Re4 Re4 34. Re4 Qe4 35. Bh6 Qg6 36. Bc1 Qb1 37. Kf1 Bf5 38. Ke2 Qe4 39. Qe3 Qc2 40. Qd2 Qb3 41. Qd4 Bd3

Answer: Karpov

Alas, Fischer simply had too many demands on the table. Organizers and supporters were saddened and stunned. Even Fischer regretted his decision not to play.

Karpov had progressed through the candidates matches and emerged as the challenger. However, due to Fischer's numerous demands, the match was not held and Fischer forfeited his title.

Answer: Iceland

This was perhaps ironic, since Reykjavik happened to be the site of this world championship victory. He passed away on January 17th, 2008. Despite his sometimes crazy comments, he will always be a hero to me.

This sad portion of the film is shown in the credits.