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Got Chess Fever?  Gotta see this!

Got Chess Fever? Gotta see this!

Only Chess

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Check out an old film called Chess Fever at http://video.google.it/videoplay?docid=3727820471573567512&q=chess

It's about a young Russian lad and his girlfriend who resents his obsession with chess. Actually the whole male population is obsessed with chess. Filmed in 1925, it's silent with some nice music as background. Late in the film (which only lasts about ten minutes) the girl meets Capablanca (the real one, not an actor) who straightens her out. I've never seen Capa in a movie before, but i can see the charm oozing from the guy. Since the film was made in 1925, Capa was still world champion. There's also someone in the film playing chess who looks remarkably like Frank Marshall. If you can read Russian the few subtitles should be obvious, but if not, go to the Playchess news site where they give you the dialogue. That's where if found out about it.

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Originally posted by buddy2
Check out an old film called Chess Fever at http://video.google.it/videoplay?docid=3727820471573567512&q=chess

It's about a young Russian lad and his girlfriend who resents his obsession with chess. Actually the whole male population is obsessed with chess. Filmed in 1925, it's silent with some nice music as background. Late in the film (which only last ...[text shortened]... Playchess news site where they give you the dialogue. That's where if found out about it.
That was for sale at the Iowa Open for $8. I regretted not buying it as it looked rather humorous.

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Originally posted by zebano
That was for sale at the Iowa Open for $8. I regretted not buying it as it looked rather humorous.
After watching it, do you still regret not buying it?

Someone posted that several months ago. I sat and watched the whole thing but what a waste! After the first couple of minutes it wasn't funny anymore.

Wasted almost 20 minutes watching that no good clip 🙁

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Originally posted by buddy2
Check out an old film called Chess Fever at http://video.google.it/videoplay?docid=3727820471573567512&q=chess

It's about a young Russian lad and his girlfriend who resents his obsession with chess. Actually the whole male population is obsessed with chess. Filmed in 1925, it's silent with some nice music as background. Late in the film (which only last ...[text shortened]... Playchess news site where they give you the dialogue. That's where if found out about it.
Don't forget the great Torre made a brief appearance also.

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Yea, at the beginning you see grandmasters playing and one of the name cards looked like Torre in Russian. Too bad we don't have more films of great classic players.

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very funny, and well nostalgic too !

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I checked a Capablanca anthology. The Moscow tournament of 1925 (the year the film was made) did have as participants Capa, Frank Marshall, and Torre. Apparently the film maker made use of the players on hand to add authentic atmosphere to the film. Emanuel Lasker, Tartakover, Reti and many others also attended. I'll have to take another look at the beginning of the film to see if i can spot Lasker.

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Also spotted Richard Reti. Matched it with a picture from another web source. I still don't see Em Lasker. He'd be hard to miss with that moustache!

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