"In chess the pawns go first" *plays Nf3*

" Unless they some smart ass pawns "

Kubrick was a big chess player, so the chess mistake is probably intentional

Can you do a video essay on the use of cigarettes in movies, as symbolism for the time period it was made in or a phallic one etc. There are a lot of things you could possibly do with this theme. I think it'd be cool

Personally I think Chess is used a bit too much to imply smartness. There are fucktons of cliches I can point out and pseudo intellectual dialogue I can predict for a chess loving character.

The Wire has a great metaphor for chess in a much later scene that shows the people acting and moving like chess pieces. Without spoiling what happens when, there's a character shooting at angles the way a pawn attacks, and another character approaches like a knight (up one, over two) and takes out the pawn from behind (the pawn can't move or attack backwards).

Geri's Game might just be my favorite Pixar short. It's tough to choose one, but it might be the one.

At 1:35 there isn’t a mistake in the computer stating the queen move. The move is simply stated in descriptive notation, an old chess notation that was used to record moves. Today we commonly use algebraic notation as it’s less of a pain to read and write especially compared to descriptive. When the computer says “Queen to bishop three”, this would be ‘Q-B3’ in descriptive but in algebraic it would simply be Qf3. To avoid confusion as to which B3 square it’s referring to in descriptive they’ll further specify which B3 by adding either QB3 for the queen side bishop (c3) , or KB3 for the kingside bishop (f3). Hope this clears up that potential misconception.

Jeff Goldblum (Dramatic): "Checkmate"

Sad that you missed Ingman Bergman's The seven seal, the chess game between The Death and Antonio Block that symbolises theyre fight to save or pick the souls of the innocents

Actually I think Hal is intentionally misleading Dave in that scene. Kubrick's attention to detail was legendary, there's no way it was a mistake.

At the end of X3 when Magneto lost his powers but the last scene shows him moving the chess piece. I think this could be representing that he is still in the game, still moving the pieces, influencing the board thus still a player in the conflicts of the x-men universe.

you didn't mentioned "The seventh seal"

I think it has something to do with chess.

It's a shame he didn't mention Andy dufrene's love for chess.

What did the Australian tell the waiter after finishing his food? Checkmate

The Thing - when Kurt Russel lose he pours whisky over the chess computer, foreshadowing (spoilers) his final move against the thing

PAWNS CAN BE PROMOTED TO ANY PIECE, usually Queen or Knight.

Chess players often cringe at movies when they include chess.

My favorite chess scene comes from the BBC Sherlock. Sherlock and Mycroft are having a verbal back and forth as the camera pans all over the chess board with sexy close-ups of the pieces mixed with close-ups of the two brothers as they converse. It's supposed to be a battle of wits and we're meant to wonder who would win between these two intellectual juggernauts. After a while, the scene reveals the chess board is on a separate table and both brothers are actually playing Operation. I thought it was perfect.

Brilliant. I was hooked from the title. Meaning of chess in movies? Yes please!

i first read the title as "the meaning of CHEESE in movies" lol

I'm surprised you didn't look at Lolita (from Kubrick) chess scene. While Humbert is playing chess against Dolores' mother, the scene finishes with him saying: "I got your queen", foreshadowing him seducing her dother Dolores

I see the wire thumbnail. I click like

A game of chess is like a swordfight. You must think first, before you move.

@3:10 Johnny Carson? HAHAHA that's amazing

A video about chess in movies without any mention of The Seventh Seal. I'm impressed.

this is my favorite KZfaq channel.

Did you see Mr. Robot? Chess is also a majour Plotpoint in a few Episodes of the Second Season.

I just watched that scene from The Wire a week ago! Great scene.

Fuck I love your videos so much. It's nice that you take on some unnoticeable details, like the use of milk, swearing or chess. Great job.

this channel is one of the reasons why i am still alive

especially in MR ROBOT SEASON 2 the chess scene

I enjoyed the use of Go instead of Chess in Pi. It was a nice variation.

This might've been a good chance to make some Mr. Robot references regarding the chess scene in season 2. The game between Elliot and Mr Robot represented that they were equals and that they could've never defeated each other.

I like the use of chess in The Thing. Not only is it foreshadowing the later events in the film, but the way Kurt Russell's character pours whiskey into the chess computer after he loses, is similar to how he gives whiskey to Keith David's character in the final scene.

Two things I love more than anything else: chess and movies. This is perfect.

that scene in the Wire looks brilliant; to use a "friends hanging out and bantering" scene as a world-building metaphor is very efficient use of the screentime.

was that a baby michael b jordan

Oh my. The two best things in the world - combined together in this inspiring video!

3:08 - LOL, Johnny CARSON? Mistakes happen but I never catch them, lol, poor Johnny Cochran.

Fresh deserves a mention

Blade Runner: Tyrell vs JF Sebastian. Seventh Seal: playing chess with Death himself. Shawshank Redemption: Andy's chess board... It would've been fun if you had mentioned these examples.. Maybe another time. Great vid tho

God the Wire was so good :D And that chess scene is one of my favorite scenes in the whole show.

"Fresh" had a really nice extended chess metaphor throughout the entire film.

5:32 Johnny Carson? Was The People Vs. O.J. Simpson a late night talk show?

In movie chess there's always that move where one guy goes "checkmate!" and the other one gasps in surprise. Which really never happens, unless the checkmated guy is a beginner. The moves leading up to checkmate can take you by surprise, but by the time the actual last move happens you are aware what's going on.

The jazzy song in the beginning is called "Night in Tunisia." We played it at the seventh and eighth grade jazz concert last Thursday.

I am so sorry that it took me so long to find your channel, I love videos like this.

Not film-related, but Trenton Lee Stewart's Mysterious Benedict Society series uses Chess to great effect throughout first book, beginning with thus: “According to the rules of chess, if all the chess pieces are in starting position, except for one black pawn which has moved two spaces down. Is this possible?” You see, it _IS_ possible, but only because--and here's the genius bit--the player with the white pieces moved a knight, but then moved it back in the next turn. As all Chess-players know, the pawn cannot move backward, and the other pieces, save for the knight, cannot move until the pawn does _"Why, then, do you think the white player might have done it?”_ _Reynie considered. He imagined himself moving out his knight only to bring it right back to_ _where it started. Why would he ever do such a thing? At last he said, “Perhaps because he_ _doubted himself.”_ Great stuff. Very underrated (and I don't throw that word willy-nilly). Seriously, stop reading this and check and see if your library as a copy. That goes for you too, +Now You See It

I really like how they used the game at the finale between Sherlock Holmes and the villain in Game of Shadows.

I should be writing an essay right now and this is basically an essay about chess. We've got the thesis, evidence, and the explainations.

HERE IT IS, A GROOVE, SLIGHTLY TRANSFORMED, JUST A LITTLE BIT OF A BREAK FROM THE NORM, JUST A BIT OF SOMETHING TO BREAK THE MONOTONY

Chess in Mr Robot TV show is mindblowing knowing this

Props to this video for inspiring me to play chess again 10,000 games later and my love of the game is growing every day!

With help from TvTropes, I have an interesting example from John Carpenter's The Thing. In the beginning, Kurt Russell's character R.J. MacReady is playing against the computer, which declares Checkmate (and cheats in the process). MacReady's reaction? He pours his drinking into the computer, breaking it. This shows that not only is he intelligent, but he is also capable of thinking outside of the board to win, if need be.

Gotta say, man. You’ve got a really great channel here and made me appreciate movies I already love even more. Keep up the great content

No mention of The Seventh Seal? Regardless, still an awesome video.

You definitely should have included House of Cards here. Chess metaphor is wonderful in that.

One of my favourite uses of Chess in a film is Macready playing against the computer in John Carpenter's The Thing. It's a great little scene, but it's also smart character development and, in some ways, a microcosm of the rest of the film. We see he's a sore loser in a trivial game of chess against a computer, which is a great set-up to seeing how he handles a much higher stakes battle of wits, indeed one which he might be certain to lose.

It makes me incredibly mad that you didn’t even show any clips of the seventh seal

Just so everyone knows, the scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey, does not contain a mistake. Queen to bishop 3 means queen to F3 (F is the bishop file/column). Also, Hal doesn't really make a better move for the human. He says what's about to happen. Queen to F3 is Hal's move and then he calls out the forced mate (calculating Frank's moves).

such an interesting and intelligent youtube genre, there is always room for more videos like this!

I fucking love how genius these seemingly random videos are. You could make a video called 'The Meaning of Characters Wearing Socks' and my mind would most likely be blown

Another aspect: The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

!!!!!! A video on chess in movies without one mention of Boaz Yakim's "Fresh"??? It's single-handedly the most effective use of chess as metaphor for determined actions in life, depicting an elaborate chess game with actual humans, masterminded by a young prodigy as a means to extricate himself from his dangerous surroundings. What's particularly brilliant about the movie is all of the chess subtext is in the writing, the script. The applications of strategy Fresh uses in his life aren't heavy-handed, and aren't clearly narrated.... Someone who's not a habitual chess player may even miss them. Add to it the fantastic acting and verisimilitude of the whole affair and you get one hell of a story. "Fresh" deserves to be highlighted in any discussion of chess-as-metaphor in movies.

The Wire chess scene was brilliant.

In Season 2, Episode 4 "Triggerman" of the Series Person of Interest, you can see Carl Elias 'playing' chess against Harold Finch. However this game is more of a way of covert communication between these two characters. In the scene you can actually see Harold Finch interpreting and analyzing the moves, Elias makes and by that foreshadowing what will happen.

I think there's no mistake at all in the film 1 ... Qf3 (threat Nh3#) 2 Bxf3 Nxf3# There's a Black Bishop on g2. HAL isn't making a better move for the human *HAL is pointing out that the human missed the combination*, "I'm sorry Frank, I think you missed it."

Love this analysis & fantastic use of clips, I enjoy the subtext you provide for X-Men and OJ, wouldn't have discovered those on my own watching, as well as your comparison to other games which are always one-note. Great stuff! Have to share this article that I read a few days ago about chess in movies: www.atlasobscura.com/articles/bad-chess-scenes-movies-tv I've seen so many bad chess movies as well as good ones. Pawn Sacrifice and Magnus are two major offenders: both make zero effort to clue in viewers into what is happening in any of the games, which makes them boring as hell. Look forward to seeing what's next!

Recently a great movie that mentioned chess as a plot device is Arrival. Chess is a fight, win-lose game, which makes a huge lost in translation between human and alien.

You missed the original [Steve McQueen] "Thomas Crown Affair and all that chess represented. Classic.

Kubrick never makes a mistake when it comes to his movies.

A great example of this is when Mr. Robot and Elliot have a chess battle over who takes control of Elliot's body.

Disappointed you didn't bring up Fresh, which uses chess as a wonderful analogy for the lead character's master plan.

Mr Robot also had a great scene where they used Chess to demonstrate the struggle between Elliot and Mr. Robot. I can't go into details because I don't want to spoil anything but if you've watched that show you'll know what I mean.

See. It mentions chess. This is why Independence Day is flawless, cerebral cinema :)

I wish you made the analysis that the two players in The Wire scene, strictly had the mindset of viewing a game of Chess as an extension of checkers, which was why they were so obsessed with the idea of a Pawn becoming a King. But, I can't ask for much =) Just seeing The Wire was really damn cool on one of my four favorite cinematic analysis channels.

"The Wire", honestly one of the best art creations ever on both cinema and tv. No kidding!!!

Even though I know it's not a movie, Mr. Robot has a damn fine scene where Elliot and Mr. Robot repeatedly have stalemates that need both players working together to happen, which tells us that Mr. Robot and Elliot need each other.

Oh, you should've mentioned the movie FRESH! Great chess theme movie.

I like how you just posted yourself playing chess. No shitty 1.000.000 subs special video required. Just for the sake of the video and explaining stuff. You mentioned "Little Miss Sunshine" the other day. I watched it today with some friends. You and YMS... you guys do the best reviews out there. Keep up the good work man.

My favorite use of chess in a film has to be MacReady's introductory scene in The Thing (1982). Him pouring his drink into the computer during a game of Chess shows that he is very likely to make rash/extreme decisions.

the Hateful Eight also has a great use of a chess game. i cant remember their names but its when Samuel's and the old guy in the chair are talking at the chairs there, and Sam's side has the black chess pieces and the old dude has the white chess pieces sides.

Will Johnny Carson use his Great Carnac defense?

Missed Blade Runner. That chess game shows two humans equally going back and forth, until a replicant jumps in the game and tells the human a move that lets him win. This shows superiority of the replicants yet they are viewed as slaves and less than humans

Anyone else notice how he called Johnny Cochran, Johnny Carson?

3:29 * *talks about how the scene with a chess board focuses on black vs. white and how that parallels the black vs white pieces* * * *chess board is glass* * * *pieces are either clear or frosted* *

There is a beautiful scene in the Russian version of D'Artagnan and the 3 Musketeers from 1978, where D'Artagnan plays chess with the evil Cardinal. And the Cardinal discusses the game, talking about how the king is the weakest piece, which alludes to him wanting to usurp the king in real life. It's not subtle, but still very nuanced and enjoyable.

Dude, what about The Seventh Seal? If you talk about Chess in movies you have to talk about the seventh seal, all the movie revolves arround a game of chess between our protagonis and death.

THANK YOU for using "THE WIRE"

In the clip from The Wire, I was surprised that no one mentioned that pawns can be promoted to any piece (usually the queen) if the pawn can make it all the way to the other side of the board.

Chess is always about momentum. A slow game that really only leads to one crucial move that wins it all.

Oj's lawyer was Johnny Cochran, not Johnny Carson, the talk show host

The opening shot of Fincher's 'Seven' positions a chessboard in the scene nicely, which is especially notable because Freeman's character lives alone. It's seems like a subtle way of introducing the cat-and-mouse game Spacey's killer plays with the detectives.

thanks so much for making these videos I love them so much!

Cyvasse, chess' counterpart in the world of ASOIAF, plays a major role in one of the later chapters happening in Dorne in A Feast For Crows, with the pieces symbolizing alliances and upcoming battles

Guy ritchie's "revolver". best movie with a chess plotline

Fresh (1994) is my favorite chess movie. Incidentally it also symbolizes the players in the drug game,like in the The Wire example

First season of the wire with Deandre is to me the best parts of the wire