Checkmate! (The Great Chess Movies)
by osloj | created - 27 Feb 2016 | updated - 16 Mar 2023 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Grossmeyster (1973)
93 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Chess Grandmaster Sergei Khlebnikov is a highly talented and unusual person, living in the 1970s Soviet Union. His is obsessed with making a beautiful game. But his emotional and irrational... See full summary »
Director: Sergey Mikaelyan | Stars: Andrey Myagkov, Larisa Malevannaya, Emmanuil Vitorgan, Lyudmila Kasatkina
Votes: 182
2. The Chess Players (1977)
Not Rated | 129 min | Comedy, Drama, History
In 1856, two obsessed noblemen ignore everything while playing chess and fail to notice British rule extending into their Indian province.
Director: Satyajit Ray | Stars: Sanjeev Kumar, Saeed Jaffrey, Shabana Azmi, Farida Jalal
Votes: 4,063
3. Knight Moves (1992)
R | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
During a chess tournament, grand master Peter is suspected of murdering Debi after sex. He helps the police as the murders continue.
Director: Carl Schenkel | Stars: Christopher Lambert, Tom Skerritt, Codie Lucas Wilbee, Joshua Murray
Votes: 9,159 | Gross: $0.92M
4. The Chess Player (1927)
135 min | Drama, Fantasy, War
In 1776, an inventor conceals a Polish nobleman in his chess-playing automaton, a machine whose fame leads it to the court of the Russian empress.
Director: Raymond Bernard | Stars: Pierre Blanchar, Charles Dullin, Édith Jéhanne, Camille Bert
Votes: 339
5. Queen to Play (2009)
Unrated | 101 min | Drama
A chambermaid on Corsica is obsessed with chess after seeing a US expat play it lovingly with l'Américaine. She cleans his house and now also plays with him on Tuesdays.
Director: Caroline Bottaro | Stars: Sandrine Bonnaire, Kevin Kline, Francis Renaud, Jennifer Beals
Votes: 3,190 | Gross: $0.48M
6. Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
PG | 109 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
A prepubescent chess prodigy is encouraged to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.
Director: Steven Zaillian | Stars: Joe Mantegna, Ben Kingsley, Max Pomeranc, Joan Allen
Votes: 42,400 | Gross: $7.27M
7. The Luzhin Defence (2000)
PG-13 | 109 min | Drama, Romance
Two worlds collide when an eccentric genius falls in love with a strong-willed society beauty.
Director: Marleen Gorris | Stars: John Turturro, Emily Watson, Geraldine James, Stuart Wilson
Votes: 4,704 | Gross: $1.05M
8. The Mystery of Chess Boxing (1979)
Not Rated | 90 min | Action, Drama
Supposedly dead, embittered former official, The Ghost Face Killer has returned and seeking revenge on those martial arts masters than once opposed him - his name is infamous and his Five ... See full summary »
Director: Joseph Kuo | Stars: Jack Long, Yi-Min Li, Kuan-Wu Lung, Siu-Tin Yuen
Votes: 722
Also Known As: The Mystery of Chess Boxing (English title)
9. The Seventh Seal (1957)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Fantasy
A knight returning to Sweden after the Crusades seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe
Votes: 198,373
10. King of Chess (1991)
109 min | Drama
Hong Kong ad man Ching (John Shum) is recruited by an old friend to boost the rating of a tv game show in Taiwan. After discovering a child with psychic abilities, he sets up a televised ... See full summary »
Directors: Ho Yim, Hark Tsui | Stars: Tony Ka Fai Leung, John Sham, Lin Yang, Koon-Chung Chan
Votes: 372
11. Brainwashed (1960)
102 min | Drama, Sport, War
In 1938 Austria shortly after the Nazi occupation, a prominent Viennese intellectual, Werner von Basil, is arrested for smuggling art treatures out of the country and imprisoned by the ... See full summary »
Director: Gerd Oswald | Stars: Curd Jürgens, Claire Bloom, Hansjörg Felmy, Mario Adorf
Votes: 656
12. Zatoichi and the Chess Expert (1965)
Not Rated | 87 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A samurai with a high skill in chess makes friends with Zatoichi, who finds that things become peculiar in his presence.
Director: Kenji Misumi | Stars: Shintarô Katsu, Mikio Narita, Chizu Hayashi, Kaneko Iwasaki
Votes: 1,593
13. Qi wang (1988)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama
Director: Wenji Teng | Stars: Dahong Ni, Ben Niu, Yuan Xie, Liang Zhao
Votes: 37
14. Knights of the South Bronx (2005 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 89 min | Drama
A business man decides that he wants to teach school in the inner city and chooses a tough school in the South Bronx. He teaches the children how to play the game of chess, and along the way they learn a lot about life.
Director: Allen Hughes | Stars: Ted Danson, Malcolm David Kelley, Brian Markinson, Kate Vernon
Votes: 1,116
15. Chess Fever (1925)
Not Rated | 20 min | Comedy, Short
With an international chess tournament in progress, a young man becomes completely obsessed with the game. His fiancée has no interest in it, and becomes frustrated and depressed by his ... See full summary »
Directors: Vsevolod Pudovkin, Mykola Shpykovskyi | Stars: José Raúl Capablanca, Vladimir Fogel, Anna Zemtsova, Natalya Glan
Votes: 1,476
16. Great Performances (1971– )
TV-G | 180 min | Music, Musical
Filmed and televised versions of theater productions, such as plays, musicals, operas, ballets, and concerts from around the world.
Stars: Scott Yoo, Julie Andrews, Renée Fleming, Plácido Domingo
Votes: 896
17.
Great Performances (1971– )
Episode:
Chess in Concert
(2009)
Unrated | 145 min | Music, Musical
Chess In Concert: Chess In Concert
Director: Hugh Wooldridge | Stars: Josh Groban, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, David Bedella
Votes: 274
18. Scared Stiff (1945)
Approved | 65 min | Mystery, Comedy
The jumpy chess editor at a newspaper accidentally gets involved in some murders at a sleazy tavern run by a pair of bizarre brothers.
Director: Frank McDonald | Stars: Jack Haley, Ann Savage, Barton MacLane, Veda Ann Borg
Votes: 229
19. Tetris (1984 Video Game)
E
Differently shaped blocks descend into a 2D container. The blocks can be moved and rotated, and must be sorted into the rest of the blocks on the fly.
Director: Alexey Pazhitnov
Votes: 3,508
20. Dangerous Moves (1984)
100 min | Drama, Sport, Thriller
During the Cold War, the World Chess Championship clashed complete opposites - personal and political.
Director: Richard Dembo | Stars: Michel Piccoli, Alexandre Arbatt, Liv Ullmann, Leslie Caron
Votes: 1,475
21. Waterloo (I) (1970)
G | 123 min | Action, Biography, Drama
Facing the decline of everything he has worked to obtain, conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte and his army confront the British at the Battle of Waterloo.
Director: Sergey Bondarchuk | Stars: Rod Steiger, Christopher Plummer, Orson Welles, Jack Hawkins
Votes: 12,613 | Gross: $3.05M
Probably one of the greatest ‘chess games’ in history.
22. Battle Chess (1988 Video Game)
Unrated | Action, Fantasy, Sport
Animated chess game set in a medieval setting with some fantasy elements. Each time a piece takes another, short battle animation plays. These short animated battles to the death sometimes have a funny twist to them.
Votes: 51
23. Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
M | 100 min | Sci-Fi, Thriller
Thinking this will prevent war, the US government gives an impenetrable supercomputer total control over launching nuclear missiles. But what the computer does with the power is unimaginable to its creators.
Director: Joseph Sargent | Stars: Eric Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent, William Schallert
Votes: 10,145
A 'computer versus a human' chess scenario.
24. One, Two, Three (1961)
Not Rated | 104 min | Comedy
In West Berlin during the Cold War, a Coca-Cola executive is given the task of taking care of his boss' socialite daughter.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: James Cagney, Horst Buchholz, Pamela Tiffin, Arlene Francis
Votes: 22,954
25. Game Over (2003)
PG | 90 min | Documentary
In 1997, chess champion Garry Kasparov goes head-to-head against IBM's computer, Deep Blue, and accuses IBM of cheating its way to victory. Interviews with Kasparov, his manager and members of the Deep Blue team illuminate the controversy.
Director: Vikram Jayanti | Stars: Marc Ghannoum, Joel Benjamin, Michael Greengard, Anatoli Karpov
Votes: 1,394
26. Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
R | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A depressed musician reunites with his lover. However, their romance, which has already endured several centuries, is disrupted by the arrival of her uncontrollable younger sister.
Director: Jim Jarmusch | Stars: Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt
Votes: 108,121 | Gross: $1.88M
27. Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)
PG-13 | 109 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery
When assorted people start having inexplicable delusions that lead to their deaths, a teenage Sherlock Holmes decides to investigate.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Nicholas Rowe, Alan Cox, Sophie Ward, Anthony Higgins
Votes: 23,395 | Gross: $19.74M
28. Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story (2010)
G | 88 min | Documentary, History, Sport
Shows how the classic board game has become a worldwide cultural phenomenon, and follows the colorful players who come together to compete for the coveted title of Monopoly World Champion.
Director: Kevin Tostado | Stars: Zachary Levi, Philip Orbanes, Ken Koury, Matthew McNally
Votes: 644
29. Game Night (I) (2018)
R | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A group of friends who meet regularly for game nights find themselves entangled in a real-life mystery when the shady brother of one of them is seemingly kidnapped by dangerous gangsters.
Directors: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein | Stars: Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler, Sharon Horgan
Votes: 255,568 | Gross: $69.18M
30. The 18 Bronzemen (1975)
PG | 95 min | Action, Drama, War
During the Qing dynasty, the young son of a Ming dynasty general is sent to the Shaolin Temple to learn martial arts, so that he may seek revenge for his dead father. But he must endure the test of the temple's legendary 18 Bronzemen.
Director: Joseph Kuo | Stars: Polly Ling-Feng Shang-Kuan, Peng Tien, Carter Wong, Yi Chang
Votes: 480
Also Known As: The 18 Bronzemen (English title). A chess strategy scenario.
31. The Bishop Murder Case (1929)
Passed | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
When the body of a man nicknamed "Cock Robin" is found with an arrow in the heart on an archery range along with a chess bishop as a clue, Philo Vance investigates.
Directors: David Burton, Nick Grinde | Stars: Basil Rathbone, Leila Hyams, Roland Young, Alec B. Francis
Votes: 855
32. From Russia with Love (1963)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
James Bond willingly falls into an assassination plot involving a naive Russian beauty in order to retrieve a Soviet encryption device that was stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E.
Director: Terence Young | Stars: Sean Connery, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya, Daniela Bianchi
Votes: 145,300 | Gross: $24.80M
33. The Fugitive (1963–1967)
TV-PG | 51 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
A doctor, wrongly convicted for a murder he didn't commit, escapes custody and must stay ahead of the police to find the real killer.
Stars: David Janssen, William Conrad, Barry Morse, Paul Birch
Votes: 4,683
A 'human versus a human' chess scenario.
34. 8 X 8: A Chess Sonata in 8 Movements (1955)
80 min | Music
It is a fairy tale for the subconscious based on the game of chess. Partly Sigmund Freud, partly Lewis Carroll.
Directors: Jean Cocteau, Hans Richter | Stars: Jean Arp, Paul Bowles, Ceal Bryson, Alexander Calder
Votes: 282
35. Chess Kids (1996)
51 min | Documentary
Director: Lynn Hamrick | Stars: Morgan Pehme, Judit Polgár, Josh Waitzkin
Votes: 28
36. Tron (1982)
PG | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A computer hacker is abducted into the digital world and forced to participate in gladiatorial games where his only chance of escape is with the help of a heroic security program.
Director: Steven Lisberger | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan
Votes: 129,221 | Gross: $33.00M
A 'computer versus a human' chess scenario.
37. Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)
Passed | 68 min | Crime, Mystery, Romance
During WWII, several murders occur at a convalescent home where Dr. Watson has volunteered his services. He summons Holmes for help and the master detective proceeds to solve the crime from... See full summary »
Director: Roy William Neill | Stars: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Dennis Hoey, Arthur Margetson
Votes: 5,153
38. Novye pokhozhdeniya Kota v Sapogakh (1958)
87 min | Family
Girl Luba had a dream. She, the daughter of a chess king in a fairyland, became the victim of a cunning political conspiracy of two cards - the Peak Jack Krivello and the Cross Dame Dvuliche.
Director: Aleksandr Rou | Stars: Mariya Barabanova, Anatoliy Kubatskiy, Vyacheslav Zharikov, Olga Gorelova
Votes: 173
39. L'hypothèse du tableau volé (1978)
66 min | Drama, Mystery
Two narrators, one seen and one unseen, discuss possible connections between a series of paintings. The on-screen narrator walks through three-dimensional reproductions of each painting, ... See full summary »
Director: Raúl Ruiz | Stars: Jean Rougeul, Chantal Paley, Jean Raynaud, Daniel Grimm
Votes: 1,204
40. Final Move (2006)
R | 91 min | Thriller
A psychic and a cop track a serial killer who is copying a killer who just got executed.
Director: Joey Travolta | Stars: Matt Schulze, Lochlyn Munro, David Carradine, Daniel Baldwin
Votes: 470
A strategy video game for arcades by Leland Corporation in 1990.
Two players compete on a seven-by-seven square grid. The object of the game is for a player to have a majority of the pieces on the board at the end of the game, by converting as many of their opponent's pieces as possible. In a single-player game, the opponents are "bio-invaders from a different dimension."
42. Chasing Einstein (2019)
82 min | Documentary
Nobody has managed to topple Einstein's theory of relativity, even though it leads to the shocking conclusion that most of the universe must be made of a mysterious form of invisible matter... See full summary »
Directors: Steve Brown, Timothy Wheeler | Stars: Elena Aprile, Barry Barish, Laura Baudis, James Beacham
Votes: 44
43. El juego de Arcibel (2003)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama, Fantasy
A chess columnist ends in prison when one of his columns is mistakenly seen as a subversive attack. From there he invents a game of war and strategy and a cellmate who escapes uses it initiating a real revolution. Gripping story.
Director: Alberto Lecchi | Stars: Darío Grandinetti, Diego Torres, Juan Echanove, Juan Diego
Votes: 295
44. Uncovered (1994)
R | 103 min | Mystery, Thriller
While restoring an old painting showing a woman and two men playing chess, Julia discovers the text "Who killed the knight?" underneath the paint. The painting's owner tells her that one of... See full summary »
Director: Jim McBride | Stars: Kate Beckinsale, John Wood, Sinéad Cusack, Paudge Behan
Votes: 2,709
45. The Prince of Chess (2005)
50 min | Documentary
Follow the brilliant mind of 13 year old Chess Grand Master Magnus Carlsen
Director: Øyvind Von Doren Asbjørnsen | Stars: Magnus Carlsen, Jon Ludvig Hammer, Anatoli Karpov, Garry Kasparov
Votes: 87
46. Have Gun - Will Travel (1957–1963)
Approved | 25 min | Western
The adventures of a gentlemanly gunfighter-for-hire.
Stars: Richard Boone, Kam Tong, Hal Needham, Stewart East
Votes: 3,328
He has taken the name of "Paladin" (a knight in Charlemagne's court) and his greeting card has a chess knight logo.
47. Five Fingers (2006)
R | 87 min | Drama, Thriller
In Morocco to assist with the creation of a food charity, a Dutchman is abducted by a terrorist.
Director: Laurence Malkin | Stars: Mimi Ferrer, Laurence Fishburne, Touriya Haoud, Isa Hoes
Votes: 8,363
48. Gifted (2017)
PG-13 | 101 min | Drama
Frank, a single man raising his child prodigy niece Mary, is drawn into a custody battle with his mother.
Director: Marc Webb | Stars: Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan, Octavia Spencer
Votes: 130,236 | Gross: $24.80M
49.
The Mentalist (2008–2015)
Episode:
18-5-4
(2010)
TV-14 | 43 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A brilliant mathematician is shot and killed by a clown, and the team discovers that he was working on a priceless code-breaking device.
Director: Charles Beeson | Stars: Simon Baker, Robin Tunney, Tim Kang, Owain Yeoman
Votes: 1,387
50. 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (1994)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama
71 scenes revolving around a recent immigrant, a couple that has just adopted a daughter, a college student and a lonely old man.
Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Gabriel Cosmin Urdes, Lukas Miko, Otto Grünmandl, Anne Bennent
Votes: 8,716
51. Hawking (2013)
TV-PG | 86 min | Documentary, Biography, Comedy
Hawking is the extraordinary story of the planet's most famous living scientist, told for the first time in his own words and by those closest to him. Made with unique access to Hawking's ... See full summary »
Director: Stephen Finnigan | Stars: Stephen Hawking, Arthur Pelling, Finlay Macrae, Nathan Chapple
Votes: 1,716
52.
Chessgame (1983)
Episode:
The Alamut Ambush
(1983)
Thriller
Director: Ken Grieve | Stars: Terence Stamp, Carmen Du Sautoy, Michael Culver, Robin Sachs
53.
Monk (2002–2009)
Episode:
Mr. Monk and the Genius
(2008)
TV-PG | 44 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Brilliant chess grandmaster Patrick Kloster's wife Linda Kloster goes to Monk saying that her husband is planning to murder her, and she wants him caught posthumously.
Director: Michael W. Watkins | Stars: Tony Shalhoub, Traylor Howard, Jason Gray-Stanford, Ted Levine
Votes: 1,230
54. Independence Day (1996)
PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell
Votes: 605,376 | Gross: $306.17M
55. The Alamut Ambush (1986 TV Movie)
94 min | Thriller, War
This British espionage thriller stars Terence Stamp as David Audley, former Oxford professor turned intelligence agent.
Director: Ken Grieve | Stars: Terence Stamp, Michael Culver, Carmen Du Sautoy, Robin Sachs
Votes: 33
56. Bobby Fischer Against the World (2011)
TV-14 | 93 min | Documentary, Biography, History
'Bobby Fischer Against the World' is a documentary feature exploring the tragic and bizarre life of the late chess master Bobby Fischer. The drama of Bobby Fischer's career was undeniable, ... See full summary »
Director: Liz Garbus | Stars: Bobby Fischer, David Edmonds, Anthony Saidy, Susan Polgar
Votes: 7,402
57. Casablanca (1942)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Romance, War
A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Votes: 605,757 | Gross: $1.02M
58. Chess-Nuts (1932)
7 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Betty Boop is the black queen and Bimbo the white king in a surrealistic chess game.
Directors: Dave Fleischer, Shamus Culhane | Stars: Billy Murray, Mae Questel
Votes: 298
59. Born Invincible (1978)
Not Rated | 83 min | Action
Two warlord chiefs, a ton-fa wielder who can destroy an opponents weapon and a Tai Chi expert that is impervious to weapons, send a pair of killers to track down and kill an old master ... See full summary »
Director: Joseph Kuo | Stars: Carter Wong, Lieh Lo, Kuan-Wu Lung, Jack Long
Votes: 541
Also Known As: Born Invincible (English title). A chess strategy scenario, where the queen is considered invincible.
60. Kein Abend wie jeder andere (1976 TV Movie)
75 min | Comedy
Two competing antique dealers have their shops opposite each other in a small shopping street. The distinguished Roeder deals in valuable art objects, while the owner of Billy's Art Shop offers cheap imported goods from Hong Kong.
Director: Hermann Leitner | Stars: Heinz Rühmann, Peter Ustinov, Ilsemarie Schnering, Eva Maria Bauer
Votes: 25
61. The Prisoner (1967–1968)
TV-PG | 1,010 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
After he resigns, a secret agent is abducted and taken to what looks like an idyllic village, but is actually a bizarre prison. He refuses to give his warders information while attempting to escape.
Stars: Patrick McGoohan, Angelo Muscat, Peter Swanwick, Peter Brace
Votes: 15,036
62. Whatever Works (2009)
PG-13 | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
A middle-aged, misanthropic divorcé from New York City surprisingly enters a fulfilling, Pygmalion-type relationship with a much younger, unsophisticated Southern girl.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Evan Rachel Wood, Larry David, Henry Cavill, Adam Brooks
Votes: 76,876 | Gross: $5.31M
63.
Jack & Bobby (2004–2005)
Episode:
Chess Lessons
(2004)
TV-14 | 44 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Bobby is determined to repay chancellor Peter Benedict for 'saving his life' by doing chores, even if it turns out harmful for him or the home, till Benedict discovers him as talented chess... See full summary »
Director: David Petrarca | Stars: Christine Lahti, Matt Long, Logan Lerman, Jessica Paré
Votes: 75
64. Donald in Mathmagic Land (1959)
Approved | 27 min | Animation, Short, Family
Donald's goes on an adventure in which it is explained how mathematics can be useful in real life. Through this journey it is shown how numbers are more than graphs and charts, they are geometry, music and magical living things.
Directors: Les Clark, Joshua Meador, Wolfgang Reitherman, Hamilton Luske, Norman Ferguson, Clyde Geronimi, Jack Hannah, Wilfred Jackson, Ben Sharpsteen | Stars: Jane Fowler, Paul Frees, Clarence Nash, Roman Yanez
Votes: 2,460
65. CheckMating (1996)
7 min | Drama, Short, Romance
CheckMating is a romantic comedy about a woman who tests her dates by playing games of chess with them.
Director: William Azaroff | Stars: Amy DeBourget, Adrian Amadeus, Nathan Hedman, Brad Cook
Votes: 19
66. Checkmate (1960–1962)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Don Corey and Jed Sills operate Checkmate, Inc., a very high-priced detective agency in San Francisco. Helping them protect the lives of their clients is British criminologist (once an Oxford professor) Carl Hyatt.
Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Ken Lynch
Votes: 316
67.
Frasier (1993–2004)
Episode:
Chess Pains
(1996)
TV-G | 23 min | Comedy
Frasier buys an elaborate antique chess set, but becomes obsessed by his inability to win against Martin.
Director: Gordon Hunt | Stars: Kelsey Grammer, Jane Leeves, David Hyde Pierce, Peri Gilpin
Votes: 1,028
68. The Maniac (1912)
8 min | Short, Drama, Horror
An insane asylum is shown, with various inmates. One of the patients constantly plays chess, and one day makes his escape, carrying his board and chessmen. He boards a railroad train and ... See full summary »
Director: Luigi Maggi | Stars: Antonio Grisanti, Febo Mari, Mario Bonnard, Filippo Castamagna
Votes: 19
69. Five Elements Ninjas (1982)
R | 107 min | Action, Drama
A Chinese martial arts school is infiltrated and destroyed by ninjas. Tian Hao survives the massacre and seeks to uncover the trickery of ninjutsu in order to beat the Five Element Ninjas and avenge his family.
Director: Cheh Chang | Stars: Tien-Chi Cheng, Tien-Hsiang Lung, Meng Lo, Michael Wai-Man Chan
Votes: 3,176
Also Known As: Five Elements Ninjas (English title). A chess strategy scenario.
70. Computer Chess (2013)
Not Rated | 92 min | Comedy
A 1980s-set story centered around a man vs. machine chess tournament.
Director: Andrew Bujalski | Stars: Kriss Schludermann, Tom Fletcher, Wiley Wiggins, Patrick Riester
Votes: 4,852 | Gross: $0.10M
71. Deadlier Than the Male (1967)
Approved | 98 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
British agent Bulldog Drummond is assigned to stop a master criminal who uses beautiful women to do his killings.
Director: Ralph Thomas | Stars: Richard Johnson, Elke Sommer, Sylva Koscina, Nigel Green
Votes: 2,001
72. Checkmate (I) (2015)
Not Rated | 102 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Six people are thrown together during an elaborate bank heist where any move can alter the outcome. Is it coincidence, or are they merely pawns in a much bigger game.
Director: Timothy Woodward Jr. | Stars: Danny Glover, Vinnie Jones, Sean Astin, Mischa Barton
Votes: 1,219
73.
Bottom (1991–1995)
Episode:
Culture
(1992)
TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy
Richie and Eddie are depressed when their TV set is taken away when they fail to pay the rent and cannot think of anything to keep themselves occupied. Richie decides to challenge Eddie at ... See full summary »
Director: Ed Bye | Stars: Adrian Edmondson, Rik Mayall
Votes: 337
74. Endgame (I) (2015)
Not Rated | 90 min | Biography, Drama
HD. A troubled middle-school boy from a poor Texas border town finds himself through his school's chess team.
Director: Carmen Marrón | Stars: Dimitri Agado, Cassie Brennan, Ivan Cisneros, Ivonne Coll
Votes: 376
75. Entrusted (2003 TV Movie)
130 min | Drama, Thriller
Hoping to entrap Maria von Gall, who runs a courageous underground railroad for Jews in France, the Germans kidnap her son Thomas, a brilliant 11-year-old chess master. An exchange ... See full summary »
Director: Giacomo Battiato | Stars: Klaus Maria Brandauer, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Claire Keim
Votes: 725
76. Son of Cain (2013)
90 min | Thriller
A wealthy Spanish family whose teenage son is very troubled, they hire a psychologist to help him, but nothing is what it seems like in the beginning.
Director: Jesús Monllaó | Stars: Julio Manrique, Jose Coronado, David Solans, Maria Molins
Votes: 856
77.
Anything to Win (2006– )
Episode:
The Mad Genius of Bobby Fisher
(2006)
Documentary
Stars: J.V. Martin, Jeremy Schaap
Votes: 9
78. The Young Victoria (2009)
PG | 105 min | Biography, Drama, History
A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée | Stars: Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson
Votes: 66,362 | Gross: $11.00M
79.
Columbo (1971–2003)
Episode:
The Most Dangerous Match
(1973)
Not Rated | 74 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A chess player murders his opponent before a big match. Lt. Columbo must out-maneuver this crafty, but craven, killer.
Director: Edward M. Abroms | Stars: Peter Falk, Laurence Harvey, Lloyd Bochner, Jack Kruschen
Votes: 2,753
80. Battle Chess 4000 (1992 Video Game)
Family, Sci-Fi
Stars: Fritz Bronner, Charles Deenen, Madalyn Rofer, Bruce Schlickbernd
81. The Mighty Pawns (1987 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 57 min | Drama, Family, Sport
Caring and tough: That's how you could describe the principal, teacher, and parent who combined their efforts to transform a struggling bunch of misfits, otherwise known as D Class, into a united team of national chess contenders.
Director: Eric Laneuville | Stars: Paul Winfield, Alfonso Ribeiro, Terence Knox, Rosalind Cash
Votes: 55
82. Illegal Move (2016)
TV-14 | 3 min | Animation, Short
HD. An inside look at the HBO Original Movie 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,' starring Oprah Winfrey.
Directors: Kyle Lopez, Sana Srinivasan | Stars: Jonathan Harden, Kyle Lopez, Henrietta Meire, Michael Trikosko
Votes: 39
83.
Masterpieces of the British Museum (2006– )
Episode:
The Lewis Chessmen
(2006)
Documentary
Director: Christabel Gingell | Stars: Daniel Evans, Richard Eales, Irving Finkel, Peter Firmin
84. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
R | 142 min | Drama
Over the course of several years, two convicts form a friendship, seeking consolation and, eventually, redemption through basic compassion.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler
Votes: 2,887,122 | Gross: $28.34M
85. De stelling Van Foreest, een schaakfamilie (2017)
54 min | Documentary
A portrait of an extraordinary Dutch chess family
Directors: Thomas Doebele, Maarten Schmidt
Votes: 15
86. The Chess Set (2005)
17 min | Short, Drama
Karl and Tom are long time friends; who meet each morning to play chess in the park. However, shortly after a chance meeting with a young man, Tom dies. In an attempt to avoid the grief of ... See full summary »
Director: Alex Murawski | Stars: Nathaniel Dean, Stuart Wagstaff, Frank Wilson
87. The Chess Players (2012)
57 min | Documentary, Drama, Sport
"The younger you are, the more aggressive you play". Three-way themed film about trial and error, "The Chess Players" is the chronicle of the 2008 Chess Olympiad in Germany and the failure ... See full summary »
Director: Stephan Hilpert
88. Glory to the Queen (2020)
82 min | Documentary
Against the backdrop of Cold War, Glory to the Queen reveals stories of four legendary female chess players from Georgia who revolutionized women's chess across the globe and became Soviet icons of female emancipation.
Directors: Tatia Skhirtladze, Anna Khazaradze | Stars: Nona Gaprindashvili, Nana Ioseliani, Nana Alexandria, Milunka Lazarevic
Votes: 74
89. Tales of the Unusual (2000)
126 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
A four-part anthology in the spirit of The Twilight Zone, this film starts off with a group of commuters stranded at a train station in the rain, listening to stories told by one of the ... See full summary »
Directors: Mamoru Hoshi, Masayuki Ochiai, Hisao Ogura, Masayuki Suzuki | Stars: Kazuyuki Aijima, Izumi Inamori, Renji Ishibashi, Takashi Kashiwabara
Votes: 436
90.
The Avengers (1961–1969)
Episode:
Room Without a View
(1966)
TV-14 | 52 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A missing scientist returns after having disappeared. He's half-mad and attacks his Asian wife. Steed and Peel find out that seven other scientists have also disappeared - none having ... See full summary »
Director: Roy Ward Baker | Stars: Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg, Paul Whitsun-Jones, Peter Jeffrey
Votes: 320
91. The Killing (1956)
Approved | 84 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Crook Johnny Clay assembles a five-man team to plan and execute a daring racetrack robbery.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen
Votes: 97,439
92.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000–2015)
Episode:
Killer Moves
(2014)
TV-14 | 43 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
CSI searches for a killer whose victims and locations resemble moves on a chess board, and Greg is forced to turn to an old mentor to search for clues about the next victims.
Director: Alec Smight | Stars: Ted Danson, Elisabeth Shue, George Eads, Jorja Fox
Votes: 394
93. Little Man Tate (1991)
PG | 99 min | Drama
A single mother raises a child prodigy on her own, struggling to give him every opportunity he needs to express his gift.
Director: Jodie Foster | Stars: Jodie Foster, Dianne Wiest, Adam Hann-Byrd, Alex Lee
Votes: 16,023 | Gross: $25.01M
94. The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Romance
A computer programmer decides to become a thief. And when he starts making waves an insurance investigator hounds him. He also meets a woman who becomes his accomplice.
Director: Bud Yorkin | Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Jacqueline Bisset, Warren Oates, Jill Clayburgh
Votes: 1,244 | Gross: $0.68M
(1973) Ryan O'Neil is nicknamed "the Chess Burglar"!
95. Alice (1988)
Not Rated | 86 min | Animation, Adventure, Fantasy
A surrealistic revision of Alice in Wonderland.
Director: Jan Svankmajer | Stars: Kristýna Kohoutová, Camilla Power
Votes: 13,985
96.
Mega Mindy (2006–2014)
Episode:
De bijenkoning
(2007)
Adventure, Crime, Mystery
The criminal 'bee king' trains his bees to enable robberies by scaring people away, so he can steal their things, especially medals ans cups. His first victim is the fire chief, the ... See full summary »
Stars: Free Souffriau, Louis Talpe, Sjarel Branckaerts, Nicky Langley
97. Pawns (2011 Video)
Not Rated | 81 min | Comedy, Family
Eccentric chess player Joel Silvermanstein pursues the American Dream . . . by starting his own country, located in his Mother's house! Meanwhile, Joel must win his upcoming chess match in ... See full summary »
Director: Roy Schwartz | Stars: Dimitry Michann, Rosemary Rogers, Maya Sloan, Adam Ansorge
98. Checkmate (I) (2010)
121 min | Drama, Mystery
Aaron Carlson doesn't have the grades, the money, or the connections to realize his dreams of law school. But finally a judge offers him an opportunity: win a chess tournament and win admission to law school.
Director: Arvin N. Berner | Stars: Zachary Wood Barnes, Robin Bjerke, Amelia Varni, William E. Powers
Votes: 35
99. Roundabout (I) (1966)
95 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Every Sunday, lonely bachelor and refined judge Mladen goes to play chess with his friend, sculptor Fedji. Slowly, he engages in a love affair with Neda, Fedia's wife, and almost invisibly,... See full summary »
Director: Zvonimir Berkovic | Stars: Stevo Zigon, Milena Dravic, Relja Basic, Boris Festini
Votes: 665
100. The Dark Horse (2014)
R | 124 min | Biography, Drama
A brilliant but troubled New Zealand chess champion finds purpose by teaching underprivileged children about the rules of chess and life.
Director: James Napier Robertson | Stars: Cliff Curtis, James Rolleston, Kirk Torrance, James Napier Robertson
Votes: 6,583 | Gross: $0.06M
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