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Quiz about SeventyFive Years of Chess Movies

Seventy-Five Years of Chess Movies Quiz

Many films have been made which feature the game of chess as a plot element of one kind or another; very few actually deserve to be referred to as "chess movies." This quiz tests your knowledge of ten films that do merit that label.

A multiple-choice quiz by xaosdog. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
xaosdog

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
97,249

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
692

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. The 2000 film 'The Luzhin Defense' was based on a novel by what author? Hint

Jorge Borges

Vladmir Nabokov

Italo Calvino

Franz Kafka

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Question 2 of 10

2. The 1995 film 'Lang Leve de Koningin' ("Long Live the Queen") is packed with allusions and references to what classic of children's literature? Hint

"Alice Through the Looking Glass", by Lewis Carroll

"The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", by C. S. Lewis

"Wind in the Willows", by Kenneth Grahame

"Peter Pan", by J. M. Barrie

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Question 3 of 10

3. In the 1994 film 'La Partie d'Echecs' ("The Chess Game") what is the grand prize in the chess tournament organized by the Marquise (played by Catherine Deneuve)? Hint

The Marquise's hand, title and lands

A banquet prepared by the great chef Armand

An annual income and a position at court

The Marquise's daughter, Anne-Lise

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Question 4 of 10

4. In the 1993 film 'Searching for Bobby Fischer', which of the following actors does NOT play one of the protagonist's mentors in chess and life? Hint

Robert Stephens

Ben Kingsley

Joe Mantegna

Laurence Fishburne

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Question 5 of 10

5. Who played the role of the protagonist in the 1992 film 'Knight Moves'? Hint

Christopher Lambert

Denzel Washington

Gary Oldman

Sean Connery

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Question 6 of 10

6. In the 1985 film 'Die Gruenstein-Variante' ("The Gruenstein Variation"), where is the eponymous sequence of moves referred to in the title first played out? Hint

on a mountainside

on a battlefield

in a prison cell

in a submarine

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Question 7 of 10

7. What city provides the setting for the 1984 film 'La Diagonale du Fou' ("Dangerous Moves")? Hint

Paris

Geneva

Moscow

Berlin

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Question 8 of 10

8. In the 1977 film 'Shatranj Ke Khiladi' ("The Chess Players"), what entity poses the threat that Mir and Mirza ignore by playing endless games of chess? Hint

The British Empire

The Roman Empire

The Ottoman Empire

The Hapsburg Empire

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Question 9 of 10

9. The 1960 film 'Die Schachnovelle' ("Brainwashed") was based on a short story by what author? Hint

Thomas Mann

Stefan Zweig

Guenter Grass

Robert Musil

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Question 10 of 10

10. Who was the (primary) director of the 1925 film 'Shakhmatnaya Goryachka' ("Chess Fever")? Hint

Sergei Eisenstein

Vsevolod Pudovkin

Mikhail Vartanov

Aleksandr Adabashyan

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The 2000 film 'The Luzhin Defense' was based on a novel by what author?

Answer: Vladmir Nabokov

Directed by Marleen Gorris, starring John Turturro and Emily Watson. It tells the story of an emotionally unstable chess master (perhaps a high-functioning autistic and on the edge of being an idiot-savant) who falls in love with a rich society woman.

2. The 1995 film 'Lang Leve de Koningin' ("Long Live the Queen") is packed with allusions and references to what classic of children's literature?

Answer: "Alice Through the Looking Glass", by Lewis Carroll

Directed by Esme Lammers, starring Tiba Tossijn and Derek de Lint. Tells the story of a young girl who learns to play chess and finds her father.

3. In the 1994 film 'La Partie d'Echecs' ("The Chess Game") what is the grand prize in the chess tournament organized by the Marquise (played by Catherine Deneuve)?

Answer: The Marquise's daughter, Anne-Lise

Directed by Yves Hanchar, starring Hilde Heijnen, Denis Lavant and Catherine Deneuve. Recounts the chess played in the tournament for the hand of Anne-Lise (played by Hilde Heijnen), but also the chess-like battle of wits between mother and daughter.

4. In the 1993 film 'Searching for Bobby Fischer', which of the following actors does NOT play one of the protagonist's mentors in chess and life?

Answer: Robert Stephens

Directed by Steven Zaillian, starring Max Pomeranc (with Joe Mantegna as protagonist Josh Waitzkin's father, Ben Kingsley as Josh's "official" chess teacher, Laurence Fishburne as Josh's unofficial chess mentor Vinnie, and Robert Stephens as the chess mentor of Josh's foil Jonathan Poe). A coming-of-age story about a young chess master; based on a true story.

5. Who played the role of the protagonist in the 1992 film 'Knight Moves'?

Answer: Christopher Lambert

Directed by Carl Schenkel. A murder mystery in which a chess grandmaster is the chief suspect.

6. In the 1985 film 'Die Gruenstein-Variante' ("The Gruenstein Variation"), where is the eponymous sequence of moves referred to in the title first played out?

Answer: in a prison cell

Directed by Bernhard Wicki, starring Fred Dueren, Kalus Schwarzkopf and Joerg Gudzuhn. Tells the story of a man who remembers more than just a tricky move as he struggles to reconstruct a chess game he played against a Jewish prisoner some forty-odd years before in a WWII prison cell.

7. What city provides the setting for the 1984 film 'La Diagonale du Fou' ("Dangerous Moves")?

Answer: Geneva

Directed by Richard Dembo, starring Michel Piccoli and Alexandre Arbatt. A cold-war psychodrama in which the chess match played on the board (between a Soviet grandmaster and an ex-Soviet defector challenger) is interwoven with a behind-the-scenes political chess match.

8. In the 1977 film 'Shatranj Ke Khiladi' ("The Chess Players"), what entity poses the threat that Mir and Mirza ignore by playing endless games of chess?

Answer: The British Empire

Directed by Satyajit Ray, starring Saeed Jaffrey and Sanjeev Kumar. Tells the story of one of India's last independent kingdoms which, mired in chess and poetry, ignores the threat to its sovereignty posed by the British Empire.

9. The 1960 film 'Die Schachnovelle' ("Brainwashed") was based on a short story by what author?

Answer: Stefan Zweig

Directed by Gerd Oswald, starring Werner von Basil. Tells the story of a man who memorized a book of grandmaster chess games while in solitary confinement, in order to avoid madness, who later plays chess against a true master during an ocean voyage.

10. Who was the (primary) director of the 1925 film 'Shakhmatnaya Goryachka' ("Chess Fever")?

Answer: Vsevolod Pudovkin

Secondary director's credit was given to the film's writer, Nikolai Shpikovsky. Starring Vladimir Fogel, Anna Zemtsova and Jose Raul Capablanca. A love story about obsession and chess; silent.

Source: Author xaosdog

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor resdog before going online.
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