Bobby Fischer Against the World (2011) on Netflix
NR20111h 33mBiographyDocumentaryHistory
Bobby Fischer, a self-taught boy from Brooklyn, breaks into the New York chess scene while Soviet grandmasters rule the game. In 1972 he challenges Boris Spassky for the world title.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb7.4/107,636 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes88%
Trailer
Plot summary
Bobby Fischer picks up chess on his own as a boy in Brooklyn and works his way through the city's clubs into the national game. The Soviet Union has produced the strongest players for decades, and no American has seriously threatened that hold. Fischer changes it. By 1972 he is the challenger for the world championship, facing Boris Spassky in a match that the press and the public read as a contest between two political systems. Cameras, crowds and Cold War politics descend on two men and a board, and the symbolism of the event grows far beyond the game itself. The film draws on rare footage of that championship and on the recollections of players and writers who followed Fischer's career.
Cast
- Larry Evansas Himself - Former Champion
- Asa Hoffmannas Self
- Boris Spasskyas Himself
- David Edmondsas Himself - Author
- Anthony Saidyas Himself (as Dr. Anthony Saidy)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Bobby Fischer Against the World (2011)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film is dedicated to editor Karen Schmeer, who was killed in a hit-and-run accident while the team were already a few months into the editing process.
- Director Liz Garbus began her work on the film after Fischer's death in 2008, at the age of 64, describing him as a self-taught Brooklyn boy who took the New York chess scene and then the national chess scene by storm while the Russians had been dominating the sport for decades.
- Chess historian Edward Winter noted the high quality of the archive material presented, but did not approve of the loose anecdotal stereotypes about chess that were presented by some of the interviewees in the documentary.
Stills
Similar movies
