July 25, 2011 | Adam Cuttler | 1 Comment

San Francisco Jewish Film Festival 2011: Bobby Fischer Against The World – Review, Trailer and Showtimes

Chess kills. Okay, so maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it certainly has been known to turn some of the game’s most brilliant minds into certified nutbags. Case in point… Bobby Fischer. I think it’s pretty common knowledge that Bobby Fischer was a great chess player who later in life went crazy, but if you didn’t already know that, I apologize for ruining the movie.

You see, prior to watching this film, my knowledge of this late chess master was lacking. I knew he was considered by the masses to be one of the greatest chess players ever and that after defeating the greatest Russian player, Boris Spassky during the Cold War, he disappeared from the public eye. I also knew a little about his anti-Semitic rantings and ravings in his later years. Oh yeah, I also knew he was dead.

If you already knew this information on the man, then I recommend skipping out on this documentary. Sadly, Liz Garbus’ film failed to say anything other than what I already knew on this sports figure (yes, chess is considered a sport.) However, I did learn about the rules of a championship chess match, which are absolutely, and fittingly insane. This was the most interesting part of the entire film; the montage of chess games between Fischer and Spassky. Actually, I would be willing to watch a 2-hour documentary on the match alone, especially if it was filmed entirely how this segment of the film was edited.

But the focus of Bobby Fischer Against The World wasn’t supposed to be about Bobby Fischer and the russian, nor was it supposed to be Bobby Fischer: The Biography. It is called Bobby Fischer Against The World, so in that sense I guess my gripe with the film not shedding any new light on the man doesn’t hold much water. Even so, I already knew he obviously had beef with the rest of the world before seeing this film, but was still disappointed with what I saw.

On the plus side though, there is an abundance of footage featuring Bobby Fischer that did appeal to the more voyeuristic side of me. As sad as it is, I am not ashamed to admit that I will watch a train wreck, and that’s exactly what this film projects. If only this film was called Bobby Fischer: The Self Destructive Train Wreck, then perhaps my expectations wouldn’t have been let down.