The first time Beth plays Beltik the game starts with Beth playing black but ends with her playing white.
Beth is sent to a shop (called Bradley's) by her foster-mother to buy THREE packs of cigarettes (Chesterfields). After handing over the note her foster-mother wrote to the shopkeeper she clearly receives ONE pack of cigarettes. When she is walking home on the street -after buying a newspaper and stealing a chess magazine- she still carries ONE pack of cigarettes. When she finally comes home she delivers THREE packs of cigarettes as she was asked to do.
When Mr. and Mrs Wheatley were meeting Beth, Mrs. Deardorf stated Beth was 13 years old and Beth started to say "Actually I'm 15", then corrected herself to say "Yes 13." The first tournament at the High School was Oct 20 through Sunday, Oct 22nd. This could only happen in 1961. Also the letter where Mr. Shaibel sent Beth $5.00 was postmarked Oct 15, 1961. This would have made Beth 12 years old since she was born Nov 2, 1948.
Beth was picked up by her adopted parents in a 1957 Chevy. When she was picked up the car had a "V" emblem on the hood (designating a V8 engine) and plain hubcaps. When she arrived at her new home the car had no "V" emblem on the hood and it had spinner hubcaps. It was clearly a different car.
Beth is sent to Bradleys to buy 3 packs of chesterfields but at store the merchant only give her one pack.
The United States flag hanging on the wall of the tournament gymnasium is hung backwards. The blue field is always to be displayed top left whether the flag is hung horizontally or vertically.
The high school Chess Tournament Beth plays in is at Henry Clay High School in Lexington, KY. The sign leading in to the school gives the mascot as the "Fighting Owls". In reality, Lexington's Henry Clay High School mascot is the Blue Devil.
Beth was raised in an orphanage(?) yet when she was shown her room in her adoptive parents' home she knew how to operate a lock on the handle of her room. she could never have seen or known of such a mechanism.
Beth's foster mom leaves the bedroom phone off-hook and a blaring tone can be heard. There was no loud off-hook tone in the 60's. That feature was added years later.
The comic book rack in the 1961 drugstore is stocked with comics from the late 1980s. Titles include Strikeforce: Morituri, DC's Vigilante, and Star Brand, all circa 1987. Many are in the clear vinyl comic bags that weren't widely available until the 1970s, and even then, only in specialty comic shops.
The television in the mother's bedroom (at 28m 18s) is a 1969-70 Sony Trinitron color television, model KV-1320UB.
When Beth enters the pharmacy, there is Goya's Malta India and Malta Goya on the shelf. These products would have never been in central Kentucky in the 1960s.
On the chess set display as Beth is going up the stairs in the department store, at least one of the sets ("The Educator Chess Set" in the upper left with the circular picture on the right half of the cover) is from 1972. The scene takes place in 1963.
The supposed Kentucky street of Elizabeth's adoptive parents is full of Cape Cod style houses. However, in the 1960s and 1970s, this style was non-existent in the center of the country. Instead, most buildings preferred ranch-style houses (filmed in Canada).
Beth writes Mr. Shaibel asking for $5 to enter the Kentucky State Championship tournament, which he eventually sends. But the ad for the tournament in the chess magazine says that entry fee is $5 plus $6 for KCA dues. While she is shown paying the $5 entry fee with Mr. Shaibel's money, the payment of the Kentucky Chess Association dues was never addressed.
The newspaper ad for the Kentucky State Championship says that the time limit is 50 moves in 2 hours. Yet Annette tells Beth that the time limit is 90 minutes.
The guys behind the desk say that anyone under 1600 is considered a beginner and kept out of the Open. However, on the board there are several match-ups visible (in the Open) between those under 1600 and those above 1600.
Despite Beth's request to put in the Open, it is later seen that she is put in with the other unrated players. If those are truly two different tournaments, as evident from the fact they both have their own reward for winning, she should not be able to play anyone from the Open as well.