Author: Pierre Bourget
Date: 09:31:47 06/06/00
Everybody knows that the most celebrated computer chess scene in movies is probably the one in Kubrick's 2001:A Space Odyssey from 1968 .The game was not played by the computer but was a true game between Roesch and Schlage from a minor section of the Hamburg 1910 tournament.Some months before the release of this movie ,the same thing happen in very well know tv series ; Mission Impossible has an episode called A Game of Chess in his second season.Here is a brief description: Episode #42 :A Game of Chess Nicholas Groat (Don Francks), an international chess master, plans to steal the gold from a hotel vault. The gold was originally intended for a pro-Western underground movement in an opressive country. Rollin poses as a chess master with the help of Barney's chess playing computer in order to gain the Groat's confidence. The IMF then helps Groat gain access to the vault before the IMF takes the gold from Groat at gunpoint.Aired 1/14/68. I was able after looking at the tape several times to reconstruct the couple of games that were shown and to my surprise they were actual games played before also by humans. K. Macan (unknow actor)-P. Anderson (Rollin [Martin Landau] with the help of Barney's [Greg Morris]Computer). In fact the game Labone-Amateur ,Birmingham 1901. [MLNrOfMoves "20"] [MLFlags "100000"] [Site "Birmingham"] [Date "1901"] [White "Labone"] [Black "Amateur"] [Result "1-0"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. d4 e5 4. Nf3 exd4 5. Nxd4 c5 6. Qe2+ Be7 7. Nb5 Na6 8. N1c3 Qe6 9. Be3 Nf6 10. Qf3 O-O 11. Bd3 c4 12. Nd4 Qb6 13. Nf5 Qxb2 14. Nxe7+ Kh8 15. Bd4 cxd3 16. Qxf6 Rg8 17. Qxf7 Be6 18. Qxe6 Qxa1+ 19. Kd2 Qxh1 20. Ng6+ hxg6 21. Qh3# 1-0 A. Groat (Don Francks)-P. Anderson (Rollin [Martin Landau] with the help of Barney's [Greg Morris] computer).I fact the game Dake-Pauly ,Baltimore 1936. [MLNrOfMoves "9"] [MLFlags "100000"] [Event "Simul"] [Site "Baltimore"] [Date "1936"] [White "Dake"] [Black "Pauly"] [Result "0-1"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Ne2 dxe4 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Nxc3 Nc6 7. Qg4 Nxd4 8. Qxg7 Nxc2+ 9. Ke2 Qd3# 0-1 So Kubrick's idea ,if it was his idea, was not new to take an existing game. If you know earlier example please share your discoveries here. There are two others more recent scenes that i remember but don't have the tape right now: At the beginning of the movie The Thing (1982) by John Carpenter ,Kurt Russell play chess against a computer ,Chess Wizard i think, and after losing he emptied his whisky glass in the computer in sign of disgust. In Blade Runner (1982) by Ridley Scott , i think there is also a computer chess scene but i don't remember well , can someone confirm that. Thanks. Pierre
This page took 0.01 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.