Chess Fever (1925)

Chess Fever (1925)

„Chess Fever“ is a 1925 Black & White Soviet silent comedy short film (Russian: Шахматная горячка, romanized: Shakhmatnaya goryachka) directed by Nikolai Shpikovsky who wrote the screenplay together with Vsevolod Pudovkin.

In Moscow during the international chess tournament of 1925, the hero and heroine of the story are engaged to be married.

Our hero is obsessed with chess – so obsessed that he seems to carry with him a more-and-more endless supply of ever-smaller portable sets. His tie, socks, cap, handkerchief, and scarf are all chessboard patterned – so he can’t kneel down on the handkerchief to try to win back the love of the his new wife (whom he has alienated with his chess fever) without absentmindedly pulling out some pieces, setting them down, and analyzing an endgame.

Caught up in a society-wide chess fever, the hero forgets about his marital obligations and must beg for her forgiveness. As he kneels before his dismayed fiancée on a checkered cloth, the hero becomes distracted and starts to play chess. Enraged, the heroine throws his chess themed belongings out of the window and forces him to leave.

Now separated, the heroine finds herself at a pharmacy, intending to obtain poison to kill herself.

Meanwhile, the hero dejectedly sits on a bridge above a river, throwing what’s left of his chess possessions into the water. Rather than throwing himself off the bridge as well, he realizes the importance of love and resolves to find the heroine and apologize. It is at this time that the heroine raises what she thinks is a vial of poison to her lips. However, she is stopped when she realizes that she was mistakenly given a chess piece by the distracted chemist. The heroine’s distress is interrupted by World Chess Champion José Raúl Capablanca, who tells her that, in the company of a beautiful woman, he too hates chess. The two become friends and drive off as the hero arrives.

The hero, with nothing left to do but return to chess, attends the tournament. Looking into the crowd, he is shocked to find his fiancée excitedly watching the game. He runs to her and the two embrace, united by their love for chess, and the film ends with them playing the game together.

Cast:

• José Raúl Capablanca – The World Champion
• Vladimir Fogel – The Hero
• Anna Zemtsova – The Heroine
• Boris Barnet – Cameo
• Vladimir Nabokov – Cameo
• Yakov Protazanov – Chemist
• Yuli Raizman – Chemist’s Assistant
• Fyodor Otsep – Game spectator
• Sergey Komarov – Grandfather
• Mikhail Zharov – House Painter
• Ivan Koval-Samborsky – Policeman
• Ernst Grunfeld – Self
• Frank Marshall – Self
• Richard Reti – Self
• Rudolph Spielmann – Self
• Carlos Torre – Self
• F.D. Yates – Self
• Anatoli Ktorov – Tram Passenger
• Fyodor Ivanov
• Natalya Glan
• Zakhar Darevsky
• Konstantin Eggert

„Chess Fever“ (Schachfieber) ist eine sowjetische Schwarz-Weiß-Stummfilmkomödie aus dem Jahr 1925 (russisch: Шахматная горячка, romanisiert: Shakhmatnaya goryachka) unter der Regie von Nikolai Shpikovsky, der das Drehbuch zusammen mit Vsevolod Pudovkin schrieb.

In Moskau, während des internationalen Schachturniers von 1925, sind der Held und die Heldin der Geschichte verlobt und wollen heiraten.

Unser Held ist vom Schachspiel besessen - so besessen, dass er einen immer größeren Vorrat an immer kleineren tragbaren Sets mit sich herumzutragen scheint. Seine Krawatte, seine Socken, seine Mütze, sein Taschentuch und sein Schal sind mit Schachbrettmustern versehen - er kann sich also nicht auf das Taschentuch knien, um zu versuchen, die Liebe seiner neuen Frau (die er mit seinem Schachfieber entfremdet hat) zurückzugewinnen, ohne geistesabwesend einige Figuren herauszuziehen, sie abzulegen und ein Endspiel zu analysieren.

Im Schachfieber der Gesellschaft vergisst der Held seine ehelichen Pflichten und muss sie um Vergebung bitten. Als er vor seiner bestürzten Verlobten auf einem karierten Tuch kniet, wird der Held abgelenkt und beginnt, Schach zu spielen. Wütend wirft die Heldin seine Schachspielsachen aus dem Fenster und zwingt ihn zu gehen.

Getrennt von ihm sucht die Heldin eine Apotheke auf, um Gift zu besorgen und sich zu töten.