Pawn Sacrifice

2014
PG-13
1h 55m

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

51K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

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Biography Drama History Sport Thriller

Set during the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers and his own struggles as he challenges the Soviet Empire.Set during the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers and his own struggles as he challenges the Soviet Empire.Set during the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers and his own struggles as he challenges the Soviet Empire.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

51K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

3,707

456

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination

Photos100

+ 94

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Bobby Fischer was wanted in the United States of America for violating economic sanctions against the former Yugoslavia by playing a chess match there in 1992. He fled to Japan and was arrested in July 2004 for trying to leave Japan on a revoked U.S. passport. Thus, he was detained in Japan awaiting deportation to the USA. He renounced his U.S. citizenship and tried to become a German citizen, but was denied. Finally, in March 2005, Iceland's parliament voted to grant him Icelandic citizenship. He remained a fugitive from the USA until his death.

Goofs
When Fischer first meets Boris Spassky in Santa Monica in 1966 Boris is introduced as the World Champion. Boris was not yet the World Champion. Tigran Petrosian was the World Chess Champion at that time.

Quotes
Paul Marshall: I think he's afraid of what's gonna happen if he loses.
Father Bill Lombardy: No, he's afraid of what's gonna happen if he wins.

Crazy credits
In the closing credits, the name of the character Cyril (played by Shawn Campbell) is misspelled "Cryil."

Connections
Featured in Bobby Fischer, the Cold War and the Match of the Century (2015)

Soundtracks
Along Came Betty
Written by Benny Golson
Performed by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers
Courtesy of Concord Music Group, Inc.
By Arrangement with Time Step Music

User reviews147

Review

Featured review

8/10

Great acting, interesting story

Tobey Maguire is a very fine actor. Regrettably, he is not cast very frequently and since the failure of "Spider-Man 3" in 2007, his fans have not seen very much of him. With "Pawn Sacrifice", however, he once again showed his talent, depicting American chess genius and grandmaster Bobby Fischer from his childhood years up to the famous World Chess Championship in Reykjavík, Iceland in 1972. Co-starring Liev Schreiber, Peter Sarsgaard and Michael Stuhlbarg, the film has no lack of good acting.