Chess Movies

List of the best chess movies selected by visitors to our site: Pawn Sacrifice, The Luzhin Defence, The Coldest Game, The Royal Game, Fahim, Bobby Fischer Against the World, Knights of the South Bronx, Critical Thinking, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Queen of Katwe.

In the top there are new films of 2021, a plot description and trailers for films that have already been released.

Genre
Country
Markimdb: 7
Genrethriller, drama, biography, sport
CountryUSA
Duration01:55
CharactersGeniuses
PlotOn real events, Chess, Obsession, Mental disorders, Political
PlaceIslands, Russia
TimeCold War
StylePsychological problems, Inspirational, Fascinating, Serious

American chess champion Bobby Fischer prepares for a legendary match-up against Russian Boris Spassky.

Markimdb: 6.9
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryUnited Kingdom, France
Duration02:08
CharactersGeniuses
PlotChess, Obsession, Loneliness, Mental disorders
PlaceItaly
StyleSoulful, Atmospheric, Fascinating, Gloomy, Touching

Based upon the novel by Vladimir Nabokov, a chess grandmaster travels to Italy in the 1920s to play in a tournament and falls in love.

Markimdb: 6.2
Genrethriller, history, sport
CountryPoland, USA
CharactersCIA, Spy
PlotChess, Political, Fear, Competitions, Rivalry
PlaceUSSR, USA
TimeCold War
StyleInspirational, Smart, Tense

During 1962's Cuban missile crisis, a troubled math genius finds himself drafted to play in a U.S.-Soviet chess match -- and a deadly game of espionage.

Genrethriller, drama
CountryGermany, Austria
PlotChess
PlacePrison

1938. While the Nazi troops march into Vienna, the lawyer Josef Bartok hastily tries to escape to the USA with his wife but is arrested by the Gestapo. Bartok remains steadfast and refuses to cooperate with the Gestapo that requires confidential information from him. Thrown into solitary confinement, Bartok is psychologically tormented for months and begins to weaken. However, when he steals an old book about chess it sets him on course to overcome the mental suffering inflicted upon him, until it becomes a dangerous obsession.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genrecomedy, drama, biography
CountryFrance
PlotOn real events, Chess
StyleAction, By books, Fascinating, Smart

Fahim Mohammad, a Bangladeshi immigrant, becomes a world junior chess champion in France.

Markimdb: 7.4
Genredocumentary, biography, history, sport
CountryUSA, United Kingdom
Duration01:33
CharactersChild Prodigies, Celebrities
PlotOn real events, Chess, Obsession, Competitions, Rivalry
PlaceUSA
TimeCold War
StyleSoulful, Fascinating, Serious

The first documentary feature to explore the tragic and bizarre life of the late chess master Bobby Fischer.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genredrama
CountryUSA
PlotChess

A business man decides that he wants to teach school in the inner city and chooses a tough school in the South Bronx. He teaches the children how to play the game of chess, and along the way they learn a lot about life.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genredrama, crime, sport
CountryUSA
CharactersTeachers, Heroes, Losers
PlotOn real events, Adventure, Chess, Contests, Rivalry
PlaceGhetto
StyleExciting, Psychological problems, Fascinating, Makes me think, Serious

Based on a true story from 1998, five Latino and Black teenagers from the toughest underserved ghetto in Miami fight their way into the National Chess Championship under the guidance of their unconventional but inspirational teacher.

Markimdb: 7.4
Genredrama, biography, sport
CountryUSA
Duration01:49
CharactersGeniuses, Trainers, Gifted children, Child Prodigies
PlotOn real events, Chess, Obsession, Love with age difference, Competitions
StyleInspirational, Smart, Touching, Intellectual, Serious

A prepubescent chess prodigy refuses to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.

Markimdb: 7.4
Genredrama, biography, sport
CountryUSA
Duration02:35
CharactersChildrens, Parents, Poor, Widows
PlotOn real events, Chess, Supernatural, Chase, Happiness
PlaceParallel worlds, Africa, USA, Small cities
TimeFuture
StyleInteresting, Light, Inspirational, Soulful, Fascinating

A young girl overcomes her disadvantaged upbringing in the slums of Uganda to become a Chess master.

Markimdb: 6.1
Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
CountryUSA, Germany, Canada
Duration01:48
CharactersSerial killers
PlotChess, Investigation
StyleAction, Disturbing

A chess grandmaster is in a big tournament, and when his lover is found painted up and the blood drained out of her body he becomes a chief suspect. After he gets a call from the killer urging him to try and figure out the game, he cooperates with police and a psychologist to try and catch the killer, but doubts linger about the grandmaster's innocence as the string of grisly murders continues.

Markimdb: 6.9
Genredrama
CountryUSA
CharactersTeens
PlotOn real events, Chess, Uprising, Rivalry
StyleSoulful, Heavy, Gloomy, Touching, Serious

Life of a King is the true story of one man's mission to give inner city kids of Washington DC something he never had - a future. After being incarcerated for eighteen years, Eugene Brown established the Big Chair Chess Club to get kids off the streets and working towards lives they never believed they were capable of. This is his inspirational story.

Markimdb: 6.9
Genredrama
CountryFrance, Germany
Duration01:40
PlotChess
PlaceIslands, Hotels

In a small Corsican village, the life of Hélène, ordinary and single, She works as a maid in a hotel and is married happily with her Husband Ange and her fifteen year-old daughter. Her modest and monotonous life seems to be predetermined... One day while cleaning a hotel room, she meets a young, seductive, American couple which is playing a game of chess. First fascinated and then passionate about the game, Hélène learns with great tenacity she studies the rule of the game to perfection. She can count on Dr. Kröger, who is a mysterious inhabitant, to help her to achieve her goals. But this positive transition towards a liberty for Hélène does not go about without deeply changing her relationship with family, friends and inhabitants of the village.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genrethriller, drama, sport
CountryFrance, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg
PlotChess, Political, Hypnosis, Rivalry
StyleDisturbing

World Chess Champion Akiva Liebskind (Michel Piccoli) faces his former pupil Pavius Fromm (Alexandre Arbatt), who defected to the West from the Soviet Union five years earlier, for the World Chess Championship in Geneva, Switzerland. The tension and strategies between the players draw parallels to the political conflicts and ideologies between East and West during the Cold War.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime, detective
CountryUnited Kingdom, France
Duration01:51
CharactersGangsters, Gangsters
PlotPuzzles, Gambling, Chess
PlaceEngland, Casino
StyleMind-altering, Twisted plot, Philosophical, Heavy, Deep Meaning

Hotshot gambler Jake Green (Jason Statham) is long on bravado and seriously short of common sense. Rarely is he allowed in any casino because he's a bona fide winner and, in fact, has taken so much money over the years that he's the sole client of his accountant elder brother, Billy. Invited to a private game, Jake is in fear of losing his life.

Markimdb: 7.4
Genrefantasy, adventure, family
CountryUnited Kingdom, USA
Duration02:41
CharactersWitch, Monsters, Teachers, Harry Potter, Giants
PlotMagic, Superpowers, Friendship, Supernatural
PlaceSchool, Boarding school
StyleExciting

Ignoring threats to his life, Harry returns to Hogwarts to investigate – aided by Ron and Hermione – a mysterious series of attacks.

Markimdb: 7.6
Genrethriller, drama, crime
CountryUSA, France
Duration01:54
PlotChess, Death
PlaceGhetto, New York
StyleAction, Atmospheric, Heavy, Touching, Depressive

Michael is a 12-year-old drug pusher who lives in a crowded house with his cousins and aunt. His father has become a street bum, but still meets with Fresh on occasion to play chess. Fresh is rather quiet in a crazy world. Fresh's sister is a junkie who sleeps with the dealers that Fresh sells for. As the story progresses Fresh realizes that he doesn't want to sell drugs anymore, he wants revenge.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime, detective
CountryIndia
Duration02:08
PlotChess, Skirmishes, Motorcycles, Friendship, Chase
PlaceHospitals, India
StyleUnexpected ending, Action, Fascinating, Tense, Serious

'Wazir' is a tale of two unlikely friends, a wheelchair-bound chess grandmaster and a brave ATS officer. Brought together by grief and a strange twist of fate, the two men decide to help each other win the biggest games of their lives. But there's a mysterious, dangerous opponent lurking in the shadows, who is all set to checkmate them.

Mark
Genredrama
CountryRussia
PlotChess, Competitions

Some sporting victories are about more than just claiming a title. Some of them go down in history. The film follows the most dramatic and legendary showdown in the history of chess – the match between Anatoly Karpov, then world champion, and Viktor Korchnoi, a recent emigrant from the USSR. In this battle between two outstanding chess players, a duel of personalities under immense psychological pressure, the stakes are incomprehensibly high.

Markimdb: 7.5
Genredrama, biography
CountryNew Zealand
CharactersStudents, Losers
PlotOn real events, Travel, Chess, Friendship, Mental disorders
StyleFascinating, Serious

One-time Maori speed-chess champ, Genesis Potini, lives with a bi-polar disorder and must overcome prejudice and violence in the battle to save his struggling chess club, his family and ultimately, himself.

Markimdb: 5.9
Genrecomedy, drama
CountryUSA
Duration01:40
PlotWedding, Friendship
PlaceNew York
StyleTo cry, Smart

When childhood friends Al, Dennis and Eliot get together for Ray's wedding, which may or may not happen, they end up on a roller-coaster ride through reality. During one tumultuous, crazy weekend, they face adulthood and each other with new found maturity and discover what Queens Logic is all about. This comedy takes a look at friendship, loyalty, and love.

Markimdb: 6.1
Genrethriller
CountrySpain
Duration01:30
CharactersTeens, Psychologists
PlotChess, Cheating
StylePsychological problems, Action, By books, Serious, Disturbing

Nico Albert is a very peculiar character teenager, with exceptional intelligence and a single obsession: chess. His parents, concerned about the anomalous attitude of his son, child psychologist hired Julio Beltran. Through therapy and common hobby chess, Julio will delve into the disturbing world of Nico and the complex relationships of this seemingly normal family.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genredocumentary
CountryNorway
Duration02:09
PlaceNorway

From a young age Magnus Carlsen had aspirations of becoming a champion chess player. While many players seek out an intensely rigid environment to hone their skills, Magnus’ brilliance shines brightest when surrounded by his loving and supportive family. Through an extensive amount of archival footage and home movies, director Benjamin Ree reveals this young man’s unusual and rapid trajectory to the pinnacle of the chess world. This film allows the audience to not only peek inside this isolated community but also witness the maturation of a modern genius.

Markimdb: 6.2
Genredrama
CountryBelgium, France, Luxembourg
Duration01:46
PlotChess, Cheating
Time19th century

In 19th century, a disillusioned priest helps a young boy drifter who's a chess wunderkind to move on up in life and social structures using his talent. Years later, he's a success, but game of life and love has higher stakes than chess.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genrecomedy
CountryUSA
CharactersCats
PlotChess, Artificial Intelligence, Money, Obsession, Computers
PlaceHotels
StyleAtmospheric, Fancy

Set over the course of a weekend tournament for chess software programmers thirty-some years ago, COMPUTER CHESS transports viewers to a nostalgic moment when the contest between technology and the human spirit seemed a little more up for grabs. We get to know the eccentric geniuses possessed with the vision to teach a metal box to defeat man, literally, at his own game, laying the groundwork for artificial intelligence as we know it and will come to know it in the future.

Markimdb: 8.1
Genrefantasy, drama
CountrySweden
Duration01:36
CharactersWitch, Knights, Angels, Actors
PlotApocalypse, Chess, Death, Religious, Viruses
TimeMiddle Ages
StylePsychological problems, Philosophical, Atmospheric, Gloomy, Makes me think

When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.

Markimdb: 5.4
Genrethriller, drama, crime
CountryRepublic of Ireland, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Hungary, USA
Duration02:48
CharactersSnipers, Teachers, Hired assassins, Strong women, Criminals
PlotChess, Revenge, Money, Death, Seduction
PlaceEngland
StyleUnexpected ending, Exciting, Tense, Fancy

In the dark heart of a sprawling, anonymous city, two assassins carry out a sinister mission, a teacher battles a fatal illness, and an enigmatic janitor and a curious waitress lead dangerous double lives. Murderous consequences unravel in the dead of night, as their lives intertwine at the hands of a mysterious criminal mastermind who is hell-bent on revenge.

Markimdb: 5.5
Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, music
CountryUSA
Duration02:28
CharactersTerrorists, Military, Businessmen, Pianists, Singers
PlotSoccer, Chess, Revolution, Hostage, Divorce
StyleExciting, Fascinating, Tense

A famous opera singer is held hostage in South America by a guerrilla rebel group after performing at a Japanese businessman's lavish birthday party. Unexpected bonds are forged in the standoff that ensues.

Markimdb: 6.2
Genrefantasy, adventure, family, detective
CountryUSA, United Kingdom
Duration01:51
CharactersDogs, Dragons, Rabbits, Sisters, Talking dogs
PlotTime travel, Adventure, Travel, Chess, Time machine
PlaceSea, Ships, Fantastic worlds, Parallel worlds, Castle
StyleBeautiful landscapes

In the sequel to Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland", Alice Kingsleigh returns to Underland and faces a new adventure in saving the Mad Hatter.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genredrama
CountryUSA
Duration02:22
CharactersTeens, Orphans
PlotChess, Friendship, Weapon, Art, Swimming
PlaceAircraft
StyleExciting, Atmospheric

A boy in New York is taken in by a wealthy family after his mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In a rush of panic, he steals 'The Goldfinch', a painting that eventually draws him into a world of crime.





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