Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky Face Off (Again) in New Chess Drama
Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer in ‘Pawn Sacrifice.’ Image by Screenshot
By Anne Cohen May 28, 2015
Chess isn’t what you’d call a blood sport. Unless, of course, it’s 1972 and your name is Bobby Fischer.
At the time, the face-off between the chess-prodigy from Brooklyn and Russian champ Boris Spassky had the world riveted. And soon, you’ll be able to relive the whole thing on the big screen. Tobey Maguire and Liev Schrieber will star as Fischer and Spassky (respectively) in .
Directed by Ed Zwick, the film shows the long road leading up to the match, but also seems like it will explore Fischer’s struggle with his inner demons and his mental illness. Though born to a Jewish mother, he was famously obsessed with Hitler and the Third Reich and was outspoken in his hatred for Jews.
Speaking to a radio talk show host in Baguio, the Philippines after the 9/11 attacks, he said: “[I hope] the country will be taken over by the military, they’ll close down all the synagogues, arrest all the Jews, execute hundreds of thousands of Jewish ringleaders”
Fischer died in Iceland — where he moved after renouncing his American citizenship — in 2008.
Watch the trailer below:
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
