Searching for Bobby Fischer
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Image:30m.jpgSearching for Bobby Fischer is an acclaimed film of 1993 based on the life of Joshua Waitzkin. It was written and directed by Steven Zaillian.
In this film, Josh Waitzkin's family discovers that he possesses a gift for chess and they seek to nurture it. They hire a strict instructor, Bruce Pandolfini (played by Ben Kingsley) who aims to teach the boy to be as aggressive as Bobby Fischer. The title of the film is a metaphor about the character's quest to adopt the ideal of Fischer and his determination to win at any price. However, the main conflict in the film arises when Josh refuses to adopt the misanthropic point of view of Fischer. Furthermore, Josh goes on to win on his own terms with the kind of gracious sportsmanship that Fischer rejects.
The film was nominated for Best Cinematography (Conrad L. Hall) at the 1993 Academy Awards, while it won the category at the American Society of Cinematographers the same year.
Fischer has cited the movie as just another example of a "Jewish conspiracy" to make money off him and sully his reputation at the same time, on the grounds that the film's producers used Fischer's fame to promote the movie yet paid him nothing for it.
Trivia
At the end of the movie, Josh is seen playing a tough opponent named Jonathan Poe in the final tournament. The character Jonathan Poe was not the actual name of Josh's opponent, however. His real name was Jeff Sarwer. Near the end of the game, where Josh offers Poe a draw, Poe rejects the draw and play continues. However, in the real game, Sarwer accepted the draw and Josh still went on to win the tournament by 1/2 of a point.
Depicted to the right is the position of the game before Josh offers Poe the draw. The position did not occur in the real Waitzkin-Sarwer game; it was contrived specifically for the movie. The following moves are executed:
- ...gxf6
- Bxf6 Bxf6
- Nxf6 Rc6+
- Kf7 Rxf6+!
- Kxf6 Nd7+
- Ke6 Nxe5
- Kxe5?? a5
- h5 a4
- h6 a3
- h7 a2
- h8=Q a1=Q+
- Kf5 Qxh8 0-1
One gripe from some chess players is the way Josh is seen offering the draw. In the film, he sticks his hand out and says he's offering a draw, waiting for Poe to shake his hand. The proper procedure is for a player to make a move first and then verbally offer a draw (without a handshake offer). Many children who have seen the movie mimic Josh's action.
Another minor error in the film are the chess timers being set to 12:00 instead of the standard 6:00.
Some famous chess players have brief cameos in the film. These include: Joel Benjamin, Roman Dzindzichashvili, and Kamran Shirazi.
The girl ranked 82nd Josh plays in the final tournament is actually Katya Waitzkin, Josh Waitzkin's little sister.
Vinnie, the character played by Laurence Fishburne, is based in part on the real life Joseph Lincoln, a regular at Washington Square Park chess games throughout the 1980s. Lincoln died of a heroin overdose in 1996. In an interview with the New York Post shortly before his death, he said he had never seen the film.