From the Director who has brought us such memorable films as THE LAST SAMURAI, DEFIANCE and LOVE & OTHER DRUGS ~ Ed Zwick~ comes the real life story of American Chess Genius and World Champion BOBBY FISCHER ~ as he gets ready to make show off all his moves in PAWN SACRIFICE.

Growing up with a love for the game, Bobby Fischer (Toby Maguire) spends every waking moment doing what he loves ~ playing chess. Becoming a prodigy at a very young age, Bobby’s ultimate goal is to take on the Russians as fast as he can…

With the Cold War in full swing, Bobby turns to mentor and friend, Fr. Bill Lombardy (Peter Sarsgaard) to take him to the next level, so that he can start his own COLD WAR ~ proving once and for all that he is the THE GREATEST CHESS PLAYER IN THE WORLD.

Abandoned by his mother while he continues his quest to be the best, Bobby finds that his mind is beginning to play tricks on him, as his paranoia and “conspiracy theories” seem to consume his mind as much, if not more, than working through his chess moves. From his anti-sematic tone against his faith, to the conspiracies he feels are being waged against him – pain and torment seem to be his only friends.

Finally making his way to Russia to battle for it all, Bobby has reached the pinnacle of his career ~ taking on Soviet Union Chess Champion Boris Spassky ~ the question is, can he hold it together long enough to finally become champion, or will the struggle between his genius ~ and his madness, finally become too much to bare…?

I give PAWN SACRIFICE a rating of: MUST SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN – Even though I have never played an entire game of chess in my life, and wasn’t too sure about sitting through 2 hours of watching it being played either ~ watching Bobby Fischer’s inept sense of playing this astute game of wills, kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time! Macguire is absolutely astounding playing the prodigy one minute & a total nut job the next ~ and seemingly able to perform both, with the greatest of ease. Schreiber’s performance is just as memorable, as he channels his INNER RUSSIAN to play the stoic Stassky. Even Sarsgaard is perfection as Bobby’s mentor and friend Fr. Lombardy. And as far as the cinematography of this film goes, it too lends itself to enhancing this film~ as you become more entranced in Bobby’s world with each and every frame. So, regardless if you consider yourself an amateur or feel that you could give have given Fischer a run from for his money back in the day, I suggest you figure out a way to get yourself to a theatre near you, so you too can catch the incredible Bobby Fischer in action…

Kathy Kaiser