Chess Errors in Film and TV

by Bill Wall

There are a variety of errors that

occur in film, TV, comics,
magazines, and books, and other
media when it comes to chess.

The most common error is when

the chessboard itself is wrongly
set up. The chessboard should
be placed with the light colored
square to the right of the player.
What you usually see is that the
chess board is rotated 90 degrees Bill Wall
from its correct alignment. In
algebraic notation terms, the a1
square should be a dark square
instead of a light square. To
serious chess players, this basic
error indicates an indifference to No chess grandmaster is normal;
getting things right. It tells the they only differ in the extent of
serious chess player that chess thier madness. —Korchnoi
was only used as a symbol and
not worth the minimal effort to
get even the basics correct.

Another common error is when

the king(s) and queen(s) are set
up wrong on the chessboard.
The rule is to put the queen on
the same color square as the
color of the piece. So a White
Queen should be on a white
square (or the lighter-colored
square) and the Black Queen
should be on the black square
(or darker-colored square).

Another error found in chess

scenes is the continuity of the
scene. A position may be
different in difference scenes,
but no pieces were moved.
Sometimes, the position is
impossible, illegal, or makes no
sense.

Another error is when an actor

or characters says "check" when
not in check. In real life at chess
tournaments, no one says check.
It is not mandatory that you say
anything. If fact, saying "check"
would most likely distract the
opponent and is discouraged in
professional play. If the game is
over and ends in checkmate, you
may say checkmate, but there
have been errors when
checkmate is announced or
when one says checkmate, and
there is not checkmate.

There is also the misuse of the

word "stalemate" and "gambit"
in the media. Another common,
but rare, mistake is the when
someone says "check," and the
opponent makes a move and
says "checkmate."

And there's always the

stereotype of chess players. The
grandmaster is usually the
villain. A chess player in the
movies or TV is supposed to be
smarter and nerdy. Chess
players in the movies are usually
less socially adept. Many of the
master chess players are foreign
born or Russian. Chess players
are portrayed with amazing
memory skills. Chess players are
poor sports when they lose.
Chess players are not athletic.
You don't see a chess master and
an athlete in the movies or TV.

Chess Mistakes in the Movies

Chess has been in the movies

since 1916. There have been
plenty of chess mistake in the
movies.

In 1921, The Affairs of Anatol

had Vivian (Gloria Swanson)
playing chess. The chessboard
was set up wrong.

In 1931, the French movie

Echec au Roi (Check to the
King) had the board set up
wrong.

In 1936, Pennies from Heaven,

starring Bing Crosby, had a
chess scene with Crosby playing
chess with Edith Fellows. The
board was set up wrong.

In 1939, Golden Boy had a

chess scene with the board set
up wrong.

In 1942, Casablanca, with

Humphrey Bogart, has a chess
scene at the beginning of the
movie. A knight on the
chessboard disappears
momentarily in the opening
chess game.

In 1943, The Ghost Ship had a

chess scene with the chessboard
set up wrong.

In 1944, Charlie Chan and the

Chinese Cat had a chess scene
with a chess expert. The board
was set up wrong.

In 1945, And Then There Were

None had a scene with a chess
set in the library. The king and
queen were set up on the wrong
squares.

In 1946, Patrie had a chess scene

with the board set up wrong.

In 1948, The Lady from

Shanghai had a chess scene with
the board set up wrong.

In 1952, Angel Face had a chess

scene where Diane (Jaen
Simmons) checkmates her
father. The board was set up
wrong.

In 1956, The Killing had a chess

scene that was filmed at what
was known as the Flea House
(chess and checkers club) in
Manhattan. A mistake in the
chess scene is when Maurice
Oboukhoff (professional chess
wrestler Kola Kwariani) is
kibitzing the game, he mentions
a bishop move. That's
impossible since both of White's
bishops and both of Black's
bishops have been captured and
are off to one side. It seems that
these are the only pieces,
including pawns, which have
been captured (very rare).

In 1957, The Seventh Seal, one

of the most famous chess-related
movies ever, had the chessboard
set up wrong.
In 1958, Merry Andrew had a
chess scene with the board set
up wrong.

In 1963, The Great Escape had a

chess scene with James Garner
playing chess with Donald
Pleasance. The chessboard is
turned the wrong way.

In 1963, From Russia With

Love had a chess scene based
upon a real game. The position
was wrong from the real game
with a piece missing.

In 1965, What's New Pussycat,

with Woody Allen playing
chess, showed a chessboard set
up wrong.

In 1966, Around the World

Under the Sea had a chess scene
Hank Stahl (Keenan Wynn) is
playing chess with the Black
pieces and says "Bishop from d2
to f4," which is impossible for
Black, since his bishop is on the
e7 square and cannot get to the
f4 square.

In 1968, The Devil Rides Out

had a chess scene of an
elaborate chess set, with the
board set up wrong.

In 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey

had several chess scenes. The
computer HAL, playing the
Black pieces, announces
checkmate in two moves in a
sequence of moves that was not
forced (the checkmate could
have been delayed by a move).
It announces flawed analysis
(unless it was cheating in
purpose). It also did not use the
proper chess notation (for
example, saying Queen to
Bishop Three instead of Queen
to Bishop Six.

In 1969, Anne of the Thousand

Days had Anne Boleyn
(Genevieve Bujolrd) play chess
with Henry VIII (Richard
Burton). The board was set up
wrong.

In 1971, The Abominable Dr.

Phibes, had a scene with father
(Joseph Cotton) playing chess
with his son. The board was set
up wrong and the kings and
queens were on the wrong
squares.

In 1979, Time After Time had a

chess scene with the board set
up wrong.

In 1981, History of the World,

Part 1 had a chess scene. The
board was set up wrong.

In 1982, Blade Runner had

several chess scenes. One scene
shows the chessboard set up
wrong.

In 1982, The Thing has a chess

scene where Kurt Russell gets
checkmated. Looking at the
chessboard just before the game
ends shows there is no
checkmate with the final move
of Rg6.
In 1983, Never Say Never Again
had the red and black
chessboard set up wrong.

In 1988, Arthur 2: On the Rocks

had two scenes with chess sets.
The board was set up wrong.

In 1990, Chaindance had several

scenes with chess. The board
was set up wrong.

In 1990, Back to the Future Part

III has a chess scene of
Copernicus the dog playing
Marty McFly. The chess
position is impossible as the
player with the White pieces has
a missing rook that should have
been in the corner.

In 1990, Hands of a Murderer,

Moriarty plays chess with
Sherlock Holmes, but the board
is set up wrong.

In 1991, The Silence of the

Lambs had a chess scene with a
pair of entomologists playing
chess. But the board was set up
wrong.

In 1992, Amityville 1992 had a

chess reference. A checkmate
was announced after a rook
move, but it was impossible to
checkmate the king in the final
position with the rook.
However, it could have been
done with a queen move.

In 1992, Aladdin had a chess

scene with the carpet playing
chess with the genie. The board
(7x7 instead of 8x8) is set up
wrong and there is no King for
the white pieces on the
chessboard, which would be
impossible in chess as the kings
are never taken off the board.

In 1993, Searching for Bobby

Fischer had a few mistakes. The
final game was played without a
chess clock, which would have
never happened in a
championship scholastic match.
When there were chess clocks
shown, the clocks were not set
accurately. Nobody kept score
on a score sheet, which would
never happen in a rated
tournament. Fishburne identified
a player as a grandmaster, when,
in fact, he was "only" an
International Master.

In 1994, Dead Beat had a chess

scene with the board set up
wrong.

In 1994, The Shawshank

Redemption had a chess scene in
prison, but the chessboard was
set up wrong.

In 1995, Ace Ventura: When

Nature Calls had several chess
scenes and several chess
mistakes. The chess position
changes between scenes when
no one is playing chess. In one
scene, chess pieces are on the
chessboard, the next scene
shows all the pieces gone from
the chessboard, then the pieces
reappear a moment later.
In 1995, The Takeover had a
chess scene with the board set
up wrong.

In 1996, Independence Day had

a chess scene where David
Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) is
playing Julius Levinson (Judd
Hirsch). White makes two
moves and Black is checkmated
(through poor play — he was
winning). Julius says that it is
not checkmate, but it was.

In 1998, The Avengers had a

chess scene. The board was set
up wrong.

In 1999, The Talented Mr.

Ripley had a chess scene. The
order of moves was wrong. The
White Bishop moves back, but
in the next scene, it is threatened
and moved back again from the
same square.

In 1999, Black and White had a

chess scene with the board set
up wrong.

In 1999, Justice had a chess

scene with the board set up
wrong.

In 1999, Austin Powers: The

Spy Who Shagged Me, had the
chessboard set up wrong. Also,
Austin Powers make an illegal
move with his knight on his first
move (1...Ne4).

In 2000, Shaft had a chess scene

in a bar. The board was set up
wrong.

In 2001, Life as a House, with

Kevin Kline, had a chess scene
with the board set up wrong.

In 2001, Harry Potter and the

Sorcerer's Stone had a chess
scene. Checkmate was
announced, but there was no
checkmate.

In 2002, Dirty Pretty Things had

Dr. Okwe playing chess with
Guo Yi. The board was set up
wrong.

In 2003, Checkmate has a chess

scene with the board set up
wrong.

In 2003, The Actors had a chess

scene with the board set up
wrong.

In 2003, Legally Blonde 2 had a

chess scene with a nice wood
chess set and board. The chess
board was set up wrong with the
black corner square on the right
instead of the light corner
square.

In 2006, The Da Vinci Code had

a scene with the chessboard set
up the wrong way.

In 2010, Last Night had a chess

scene with the board set up
wrong.

In 2011, Tower Heist had a

chess scene where Alan Alda is
showing Ben Stiller the famous
Levitsky — Marshall 1912
game. Alda stated that Frank
Marshall was losing, but found
the brilliant Qg3 queen sacrifice
to win. In actuality, Marshall
was not losing and was in no
danger of losing the game.

In 2011, Rise of the Planet of

the Apes showed a chimp
playing chess. The board was set
up wrong.

In 2011, X-Men: First Class had

a chess game between Prof.
Xavier and Magneto. Xavier
moves his queen and loses the
queen in one move. He had a
forced mate with a rook move.

In 2012, Rat King had a scene of

a large chess set by the water.
The board was set up wrong.

In 2013, Paranoia had a chess

scene that announced checkmate
that was impossible.

In 2014, Imitation Game had

one reference to chess. The
movie mentioned that Hugh
Alexander was a national chess
champion — twice. That's true,
he won in 1938, but the second
time was in 1958, after the time
period of the movie.

In 2015, Pawn Sacrifice, the

movie about Bobby Fischer and
the 1972 World Chess
Championship, had dozens of
mistakes and errors that a chess
player familiar with the time
would know.
In 2015, Spectre had a chess
scene that looked like both kings
were in check (one was
checkmated) and all the pieces
that were captured are on the
wrong side of the board. If I
were White, I would have the
captured black pieces on my
side. If I had Black, I would
have all the white pieces on my
side. But the movie scene shows
the opposite.

In 2016, Captain America: Civil

War has a chess scene. The
chessboard is set up wrong in
The Avengers Tower.

Chess Mistakes in Television

On September 1956, the

Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu
had 13 episodes of Fu Manchu
(Glen Gordon) playing chess at
the beginning of the show. The
board was set up wrong.

On May 12, 1957, an episode

(Season 2, Episode 33) called
"A Man Greatly Beloved"
appeared on Alfred Hitchcock
Presents (TV series from 1955
to 1962). There is a chess scene
with a young girl, Hildegarde
Fell, playing chess (she has been
playing for years) with Judge
John Anderson, but with
mistakes (illegal chess moves).
He gives check, and she next
takes a piece and says mate. The
story was by A.A. Milne, the
creator of Winnie the Pooh.
On October 9, 1962, an episode
(Season 4, Episode 3) called
"The Chess Game" appeared in
The Untouchables (which
happened to be GM Igor
Ivanov's favorite TV program he
once told me). The TV series
lasted from 1959 to 1963. A
blind fish and seafood
wholesaler (and bootlegger), Ira
Bauer (Richard Conte), plays
chess as a way of keeping his
mind sharp. He and Eliot Ness
(Robert Stack) play a game of
chess and the game ends in
stalemate. The board with the
fancy chess pieces was set up
wrong.

On January 14, 1968, Mission

Impossible: A Game of Chess
had an impossible plot of a
computer beating a grandmaster.
That wouldn't happen for
another 25 years.

On August 8, 1971, The Six

Wives of Henry VIII: Anne
Boleyn had a chess scene. The
board was set up wrong.

On March 4, 1973, Columbo

had an episode called "The Most
Dangerous Game." It had a
chess plot, but the worst error
was allowing the grandmaster to
fall for a Fool's Mate and getting
beat in a few moves because he
was rattled.

The Cosby Show appeared with

many chess references. In an
episode (Season 1, Episode 8)
that aired on November 8, 1984,
called "Play it Again, Vanessa,"
Dr. Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable
(Bill Cosby) and Theo
(Malcolm-Jamal Warner), his
son, are playing chess with a
chess clock. However, Theo
never starts the clock to start his
turn. He just moves and stops
the clock which rings a bell. His
son beats him twice in chess.
Later, Cliff wins 4 games in a
row. Bill Cosby appeared on the
cover of Chess Life with a chess
set in the living room of the TV
show. The board was set up
wrong (white corner square on
the left).

On December 16, 1989, Age-

Old Friends, an HBO Special,
had a chess scene. The board
was set up wrong.

On February 24, 1991, And the

Sea Will Tell appeared on TV.
Mac Graham (James Brolin)
plays chess with Buck (Hart
Bochner). Checkmate was said,
but there was no checkmate at
the end of the game.

On August 20, 1995, Amanda

and the Alien appeared on TV.
The chess set in the San
Francisco cafe had the kings and
queens on the wrong squares.

In 1999, The West Wing first

appeared on TV. The chessboard
in Babish's office is set up
wrong.

On march 12, 2005, Malcolm in

the Middle had a chess scene
where Malcolm set up the white
pieces on the board, but put the
king and queen on the wrong
squares.

On July 25, 2008, Monk had an

episode called Mr. Monk and
the Genius. A girl plays chess in
the park, has the black pieces,
and makes the first move 1.f5.
The Grandmaster she is playing
says this is the Bird's Opening.
It would be if White had played
the first move and played 1.f4.

In 2008, The Mentalist had a

chess scene where checkmate
was announced by a queen
move, but the queen could have
been taken and no checkmate.

In the Endeavor TV series, there

was a chess scene where it was
announced that the pawn was
moved to queen four (d4), but
the green computer screen
showed the pawn went to king
four (e4).

Chess Mistakes in the

Advertising Atwater Kent radio
had a 1926 print ad of a radio
next to a chess set. The radio
was called the Atwater Kent
Radio Music Dance Chess
Model. It looks like the chess
board was set up wrong (black
square to the right instead of a
white square).

Kentucky Tavern whiskey had a

1946 ad that showed a chess set
with two glasses of whiskey and
a book called Chess and Double
Check. The board is set up
wrong.

Nabob Coffee had a 1946 print

ad of two men playing chess
while a lady, holding a coffee
cup, watches. The tag line is,
"Next Move...Nabob Coffee."
The board is set up wrong.

In 1960, Benedicitine Liqueur

had a print ad of a lady and man
playing chess. The board is set
up wrong.

In 1968, Sears had a print ad for

a Perma-Press blouse. It shows a
lady reclining while holding a
chess piece over a chess board.
The board is set up wrong.

In December 1968, Popular

Science advertised a chessboard
and chess set you could make.
The chessboard was set up
wrong.

In 1977, Stanley Blacker

Univision, make of eyeglass
frames, had a print ad of 5 men
wearing glasses in front of a
chess set. The chess set is set up
wrong.

Silpada Jewelry had a 2008 print

ad of a sexy blonde lady playing
chess. The tag line is, "Pretty
Smart." The chess board is set
up wrong.

In 2010, Geico insurance

company used a soccer
announcer (Andres Cantor) to
call the moves in a chess game
for one of Geico's commercials.
The chess position itself is
illegal, with two white bishops
of the same color and some
other mistakes.

Chess Mistakes in Comics

In the February 1952 issue of

The Hand of Fate #9, there is a
story called "Strange
Rendezvous at 17 Rue Noir."
Chess champion Guido Nicola is
a vain and arrogant man, but a
genius at chess and the world
chess champion. He is
challenged by a mysterious
masked opponent at 17 Rue Noir
to a game of life and death
involving a living game of chess
with human chess figures killing
each other (they have real
weapons) as the game unravels.
The opponent is the late chess
champion Jan Kovacs, who
returns from the dead to teach
Nicola a lesson. Kovacs
checkmates Nicola and kills his
king. Now Nicola must forfeit
his life. Fate (a character) steps
in, sends Kovacs (a ghost) back
to the afterlife underworld. Fate
also claims Nicola's life as well -
for his vanity (and because he
has "seen what no mortal can
live to repeat"). Nicola dies of a
heart attack in his study. In one
of the comic frames, the board is
set up wrong (black square on
the right instead of a light
colored square).

In 1954, The World of Archie,

#208, was published. The cover
shows Veronica and Archie
playing chess. Veronica says
"Betty, did you design this chess
set?" Betty says "How did you
guess?" The board is set up
wrong.

In September 1958, Mad

Magazine No. 41, published by
EC, featured a story called "The
Chess Game," on page 23,
written by Don Martin (1931-
2000). Fatal results can come
from cheating at chess. As one
of the players is distracted, the
other player cheats and moves a
piece. The cheated opponent
looks back to his board, notices
the other guy cheated, then
pulled out a gun and shot him.
The same issue on page 20 had a
whiskey ad of snobs playing
chess vs. slobs bowling. The
chessboard is set up wrong.

In November 1960, Justice

League of America No. 1, by
DC Comics, shows The Flash
playing chess with an evil villain
called Despero, with chess
pieces in the shape of the Justice
League (Aquaman, Batman,
Green Lantern, Martian
Manhunter, Superman, Wonder
Woman, and Flash). The board
is set up wrong (the dark square
is to the right instead of the light
square).

In February 1962, Sick #11 was

published by Crestwood
Publications. The cover shows a
monkey beating a human. The
human has a lone white king and
the monkey has 11 pieces on the
board. The chessboard is set up
wrong.

In April 1963, Mad Magazine #

78, pages 36-39, had an article
in the "One False Move
Department" on modern chess
showing Mad's Modern Chess
Set. The pieces included a
fallout shelter, air raid siren,
anti-missile missile, a-bomb, h-
bomb, and ICBM missile. The
rules of chess were modified and
the look of chess pieces reflects
the modern issues. The
chessboard was set up wrong.

In May 1967, Pep Comics #205

was published by Archie Series
Comics. The cover shows two
students playing chess. The
board is set up wrong.

Command Men's Hair Spray had

a 1969 print ad of a man playing
chess while being watched by a
woman. The tag line was,
"When the name of the game is
great grooming the name of the
line is command." The chess
board is set up wrong.

In May 1973, Laugh Comics

No. 266, published by Close-Up
and distributed by Fawcett,
features Archie playing chess on
stage with a demo board in the
background. The board is set up
wrong (black to the left), but the
demo board is correct. Archie is
getting a phone number from
one of the girls in the audience
and Veronica is saying, "I don't
dig that last move of Archie's!"

In December 1979, Archie's

Joke Book No. 263, by Archie
Comics Group, the cover shows
Archie losing chess to cousin
Leroy. The board is set up
wrong.

In April 1992, Justice League of

America #61 was published by
DC. On the cover, two of the
characters are playing chess
with pieces in the shape of the
JLA characters. The board is set
up wrong.

In August 1998, Superman, Vol.

2, No. 137, was published by
DC Comics. The cover has
superman playing chess with the
Malevolent Muto. The cover
was penciled by Paul Ryan and
inked by Joe Rubinstein. The
chessboard is set up wrong.

In October 1999, Invisibles #7

was published by Vertigo
Comics. The grim reaper plays
chess with a lady. The
chessboard is wrong. It is 7x7
instead of 8x8. The cover was
repeated in the Invisibles HC
Deluxe Edition #4-1ST, July,
2015.

In June 2001, Heroes

Convention Volume 1, #20, was
published by the Heroes' Aren't
Hard to Find, Inc. The cover
shows Thor playing chess with a
villain. The chess pieces are
other action heroes. The villain
says, "I've got this game rigged
so that every time Thor makes a
move, a member of the Heroes
League disappears from the face
of the earth." The yellow and
black chessboard is set up
wrong.

In May 2012, FF #16 was

published by Marvel. The cover
shows a boy and a girl playing
chess as pawns are thrown in the
air. The board is set up wrong
(black square to the right instead
of white square).

Chess Mistakes in Photographs

There is a photograph of
Richard Branson studying a
chess position at a chessboard.
The board is set up wrong.

There is a photograph of Frank

Sinatra playing the late Walter
Browne, 6-time U.S. chess
champion. The board is set up
wrong.

There is a photograph of Marlon

Brando playing chess. The
chessboard is set up wrong.

There is a photograph of Usain

Bolt playing chess. The
chessboard is set up wrong and
his king is not on the
chessboard.

There is a photograph of
professional basketball player
Matt Bonner playing chess. The
board is set up wrong.

There is a photograph of Senator

Ted Cruz's $800 chess set and
board. His kings and queens are
on the wrong squares.

Chess Mistakes in Art

In 1550, Giulo Campi (1500-

1572) painted "Partita a
scacchi." It shows a pretty lady
playing chess with an armed and
helmeted knight. The painting,
oil on canvas, is now in the
Museo Civico arte Moderna in
Turin, Italy. (The chess board is
set up wrong with the light-
squared corner square on the left
instead of right).

Around 1600, Le Caravage

(1571-1610), painted "Chess
Players." It shows two players
playing chess while a third
person watches. (The chess
board is set up wrong with the
light-squared corner square on
the left instead of right).

In 1755, Johann Baptist Jakob

Raunacher (1705-1757), painted
"Schachpartie" (The Chess
Game). (The chess board is set
up wrong with the light-squared
corner square on the left instead
of right).

In 1864, Charles Meer Webb

(1830-1895) painted
"checkmate." Two men are
playing chess in a domestic
interior. He also painted Die
Schachpartie. The board is set
up wrong.

In 1875, William Quller

Orchardson (1832-1910) painted
"Mrs. Charlex Moston." She is
sitting at a chess table. The
board is set up wrong. It is part
of the Tate collection.

In 1902, Carl Probst (1854-

1924) painted "The Chess
Match" depicting a boy and a
girl playing chess. The board is
set up wrong.

In 1922, Otto Moeller or Maler

(1883-1964) made a wood-cut
called "Joueurs d'echecs"
(Games of Chess). The board is
set up wrong.

In 1925, Jean-Paul Kayser

(1869-1942) painted "Jouant aux
echecs" depicting a man and a
woman playing chess. The board
is set up wrong.

In 1936, Nicolai Cikovsky

(1894-1987) painted "Chess,"
depicting two men playing
chess, and another man
watching. The chess board was
set up wrong (black square was
to the right).

In 1964, Akira Tanaka (1918-

1982) painted "The Game of
Chess." The chess board is
wrong with 9 files instead of 8.
He was a Japanese artist
working in Paris.

In 1986, Riccardo Tommasi

Ferroni (1934-2000) of Italy
painted "Una partita a scacchi"
(A Game of Chess). It depicts
two artists playing chess as
another artist watches. The
board is set up wrong.

Also see Cara Giaimo's

excellent article Why Chess
Fans Hate the Movies. at Atlas
Obscura.

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