18 Best Chess Movies_(Updated_2022)
by sdteser | created - 13 May 2021 | updated - 2 months ago | PublicAs a chess trainer and player , my following list created depends on chess motivation and chess world support on movies.
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1. The Queen's Gambit (2020)
TV-MA | 395 min | Drama
Orphaned at the tender age of nine, prodigious introvert Beth Harmon discovers and masters the game of chess in 1960s USA. But child stardom comes at a price.
Stars: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chloe Pirrie, Bill Camp, Marcin Dorocinski
Votes: 422,937
2. Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
PG | 109 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
A prepubescent chess prodigy refuses 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: 40,252 | Gross: $7.27M
3. Queen of Katwe (2016)
PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
A Ugandan girl sees her world rapidly change after being introduced to the game of chess.
Director: Mira Nair | Stars: Madina Nalwanga, David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, Martin Kabanza
Votes: 17,372 | Gross: $8.81M
4. 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: 6,287 | Gross: $0.06M
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: 3,016 | Gross: $0.48M
6. 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: 4,494 | Gross: $1.05M
7. Brooklyn Castle (2012)
PG | 101 min | Documentary
Amidst financial crises and unprecedented public school budget cuts, Brooklyn Castle takes an intimate look at the challenges and triumphs facing members of a junior high school's champion chess team.
Director: Katie Dellamaggiore | Stars: Je'Daiah Ballantyne, Michelle Ballantyne, Rochelle Ballantyne, Pamela Ballard
Votes: 979 | Gross: $0.22M
8. Life of a King (2013)
PG-13 | 100 min | Drama
Ex-felon, Eugene Brown, establishes a Chess Club for inner city teenagers in Washington, D.C.
Director: Jake Goldberger | Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr., Dennis Haysbert, George Dick, Thurston Hill III
Votes: 6,571 | Gross: $0.01M
9. Pawn Sacrifice (2014)
PG-13 | 115 min | Biography, Drama, History
Set during the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers and his own struggles as he challenges the Soviet Empire.
Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Tobey Maguire, Liev Schreiber, Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg
Votes: 45,436 | Gross: $2.44M
10. Critical Thinking (2020)
Not Rated | 117 min | Drama
The true story of the Miami Jackson High School chess team which was the first inner city team to win the U.S. National Chess Championship.
Director: John Leguizamo | Stars: John Leguizamo, Rachel Bay Jones, Michael Kenneth Williams, Corwin C. Tuggles
Votes: 1,773
11. Fresh (1994)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Death and violence anger a twelve-year-old drug courier, who sets his employers against each other.
Director: Boaz Yakin | Stars: Sean Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Samuel L. Jackson, N'Bushe Wright
Votes: 13,440 | Gross: $8.09M
12. 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: 7,183
13. The Tournament (2015)
83 min | Drama, Sport
Budapest International Chess Tournament. The most likely winner: Cal Fournier (22), French champion, immature genius, socially awkward, compulsive player. But this time, an unusual 9-... See full summary »
Director: Elodie Namer | Stars: Michelangelo Passaniti, Lou de Laâge, Magne-Håvard Brekke, Viktoria Kozlova
Votes: 468
14. Magnus (2016)
78 min | Documentary
Magnus Carlsen, Norwegian chess prodigy, becomes a grandmaster at age 13 and world champion in 2013.
Director: Benjamin Ree | Stars: Magnus Carlsen, Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand
Votes: 2,409 | Gross: $0.01M
15. The Chessplayer (2017)
98 min | Drama, History, War
Leaping from Spain's Civil War to Nazi occupied France, this period drama follows a chess master who is falsely accused of being a spy and sent to a Paris based SS prison.
Director: Luis Oliveros | Stars: Marc Clotet, Melina Matthews, Alejo Sauras, Lionel Auguste
Votes: 738
16. A Little Game (2014)
PG | 92 min | Adventure, Family
A young girl finding her way around the city and her own life through chess lessons. This is also about being open to all the clues about your life and your options that surround you everyday.
Director: Evan Oppenheimer | Stars: F. Murray Abraham, Ralph Macchio, Olympia Dukakis, Janeane Garofalo
Votes: 620
17. 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, Keke Palmer, Clifton Powell
Votes: 1,080
18. The Royal Game (2021)
110 min | Drama, Thriller, War
To withstand the psychological torture of the Gestapo, a lawyer imprisoned by the Nazis finds refuge in the world of chess.
Director: Philipp Stölzl | Stars: Oliver Masucci, Dieter Bernhardt, Elias Gabele, Birgit Minichmayr
Votes: 1,976
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