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hosted by Chess Queen™ & 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Chess love for Indian actor
Indian actor Kay Kay Menon
Hello Everyone!
Kay Kay Menon, well-known Indian actor who is busy shooting for his upcoming movie Bhindi Bazar - based on pick-pocketing - has finally found some time to play his favorite game chess!
Director Ankush Bhatt says, "Kay Kay is very fond of this game. As his role in the movie is related to playing a don of the pick-pocketing world, he is seen playing chess. His shots are mostly teaching the chess game to one of his gang member." Kay Kay said, "The very idea of how chess players manipulate their game for their own mean ends excite me. In the movie all the killings are related to chess."
Oh! But chess players are some of the most peace-loving creatures on the planet!
You can read the full interview here. And, if you're in India do let us know what you think of the movie when it releases. It's nearly complete.
Searching for Bobby Fischer: A must-see chess movie
Hello Everyone,
Chess is so fascinating that it inspires us in many ways. Chess helps us improve many aspects of our life also. Chess has, therefore, been the theme of several movies, musicals and fiction books. Searching for Bobby Fischeris one such inspiring movie.
But the movie is not really about the genius former World Chess Champion Fischer. It is the story based on the life of Joshua Waitzkin as a little boy. The kid's parents find that he has a special gift for chess. They hire Bruce Pandolfini to teach him.
The sub-title of the move goes: "He wasn't afraid of losing the match... just his father's love."
Here are two sweet scenes from the movie:
I
Tournament Director: Ok. I want to remind you to conduct yourselves like adults. I don't want any trouble. You know exactly what I'm talking about. If you're going to watch the game, do so from behind the player. No throat noises. No comments. No eye contact. Nobody cares if you're guilty or not. If you all behave yourselves, I think we'll all have a very good time. I'm not kidding.
Tournament Director: [walks away]
Parents: [follows him complaining] My son can't play w/ - My daughter needs her own clock...
Parents: [more various complaints]
Tournament Director: [spins around and shows serious look. Everyone shuts up, and he walks away again]
Parents: [starts complaining about him] Oh! This is unfair!
II
Bruce Pandolfini: [sets each chess piece up] Now, which one is you?
Josh Waitzkin: What do you mean?
Bruce Pandolfini: Which one is you?
Josh Waitzkin: They're just pieces.
Bruce Pandolfini: [places King in front of Josh] This is you!
The movie is a must-watch for both kids and grown-ups who love chess.
Meanwhile, here is a nice game between Zsofia Polgar and Josh Waitzkin. (And, it's a King's Gambit, Falkbeer Countergambit variation!)
Checkmate: Chess movie world première on August 20
Hello Everyone,
The movie 'Checkmate' is going to be released on August 20. It is the story of a young man who wants to "find his destiny" and win a national chess tournament.
The film is written and directed by Arvin N. Berner. It was filmed in the Modesto area. You can see a trailer and read more information about the movie at www.bernerfilm.com.
BernerFilm is the artistic enterprise of Arvin N. Berner. Arvin lives in Northern California where he enjoys good movies, good music, and creating both. 'Checkmate' is the first feature film produced by BernerFilm.
As an answer to the question how he decided to make a movie with chess as the main theme, Berner says: "I’ve always enjoyed Chess. I played the game a lot as a kid. I never played any tournament like in the movie, but it was a fun hobby. Then as I was developing one of my other scripts, I found myself thinking about chess. So I started to research it, and I was hooked. I knew I wanted to make a movie that featured chess."
Today I got an email from Katie Dellamaggiore, that I'd like to share with you. She's working on a chess movie, with an inspiring story about scholastic chess, which I liked very much. It stars the I.S. 318 chess team of Elizabeth Vicary in Brooklyn, New York. A true marvelous chess story that definitely deserves to be shared with the world!
My name is Katie Dellamaggiore and I'm an independent filmmaker from Brooklyn, New York. Over the last 2 years I have been producing and directing a documentary about scholastic chess with my company Rescued Media. Chess Movie (working title) goes inside one of the best junior high chess program in the nation, Intermediate School 318 in Brooklyn, New York. Many students at 318 come from difficult circumstances and 60% are from low-income families, but being part of a winning chess team gives them a unique opportunity to experience success at a young age. Justus, Patrick, Alexis, Pobo & Rochelle are 5 of 50 team members that are learning on the chessboard the skills they need to face challenges of adolescence and their working class circumstances. As a woman who has found such great success at chess I think you will particularly enjoy Rochelle's story because she dreams of one day becoming the first female African American grandmaster. A dream that is well within her reach!
In April 2009 we embarked on our first trip with Rochelle and her teammates to the USCF Super Nationals in Nashville, Tennessee. Once we witnessed how big the scholastic chess world was, we were hooked. Over the next year we embedded ourselves with the team-- at home, at school and away at tournaments -- and slowly, the kids' individual stories began to take shape. It’s our ultimate goal to secure a national television broadcast for Chess Movie on PBS and maybe even a small theatrical release. We also plan to build a strong community outreach campaign in the hopes the film will build support for scholastic chess programs in under served communities as we have witnessed firsthand the profound effect the I.S. 318 chess program has had on its students.
Right now we have a fundraising campaign underway at Kickstarter.com. Kickstarter is an online funding platform for artists to engage with their audiences and build support for their projects. Our Kickstarter campaign has been successful so far, reaching our initial goal of $4,000 in just a few short weeks. But we still have 40 days to go and we need more than 4k to finish this film. As independent filmmakers we are working hard to make this documentary on our own and hope to complete production in the next few months.
The original link to the 5-minute teaser is here, and the company's blog is here.
A new French movie "Joueuse" by Caroline Bottaro will come out on the screens of France on August 5, 2009.
Here is a preview of the movie:
It's a movie about one woman, who is a housemaid. She lives an ordinary life, going from work to home and back. All of a sudden, one day, she sees a couple playing chess and falls in love (not surprisingly, uh?;)) with our game.
More photos from the scene and about the movie can be found here.
Kevin Kline and Sandrine Bonnaire are playing the main roles and I'm already looking very-very much forward to seeing this movie. I hope it will be shown not only in France but also worldwide. You can be sure I'd go to the cinema as soon as I can to watch this movie!
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Best chess wishes to you! Alexandra Kosteniuk
12th Women's World Chess Champion
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