The Coldest Game (2019)

The Coldest Game: Directed by Lukasz Kosmicki. With Bill Pullman, Lotte Verbeek, James Bloor, Robert Wieckiewicz. During 1962’s Cuban missile crisis, a troubled math genius finds himself drafted to play in a U.S.-Soviet chess match — and a deadly game of espionage.

“Decent enough thriller but as a previous review flagged their was some really irritating flaws in the parts of the film featuring chess. Firstly the idea of a player coming out of a 20 year retirement to challenge a top rated grandmaster is absurd. It is the equivalent of Mike Tyson trying to take on a fully trained Detoney Wilder on a days notice. Also the scene where Bill Pullman tries to remember the first game he mentions sacrificing a knight for a bishop? That is not a sacrifice it is an exchange, both are worth roughly the same although one can be better than the other depending on the position. I know it sounds really pedantic and nerdy but if you are going to make a film featuring a chess player as a main character at least pay for some basic research and make an effort to get it part right. Change sacrifice knight for bishop to rook for bishop and it us correct how hard is that??”