Kasparov: Chess Rebel is a documentary film which premiered in 2022. In 2024, it was shown on French and German television (arte).
The topic of this film is the life and career of the famous chess player Garry Kasparov who was born in the Soviet Union in 1963.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Directors: Tancrède Bonora and Laurent Follea
** Writer: Tancrède Bonora
** Audio: Multiple languages or French or German
** Subtitles: English or French or German
** Run time: 54 minutes
Several persons are interviewed in this film
Here are the names of the participants
Listed in alphabetical order
** Dan-Antoine Blanc-Schapira (born 1959) – a former manager of Kasparov – a friend of Kasparov
** Sergej Jirnow (born 1961) – a former KGB agent
** Bachar Kouatly (born 1958) – a former grand master of chess in France
** Alexander Nikitin (1935-2022) – a chess coach of Garry Kasparov 1976-1990
** Bruce “Pando” Pandolfini (born 1947) – an American chess coach
** Jan Timman (born 1951) – a Dutch chess champion
** Fred Waitzkin (born 1943) – an American sports reporter
Archive footage is used between the talking heads.
Archive footage is used to support and supplement the statements made by the talking heads.
Some historical moments have been reconstructed by actors. They are used to illustrate situations which were not recorded by a camera.
This film is about the life and career of Garry Kasparov from the time when he was a young child in the Soviet Union until today when he is living in the US.
As stated above, Garry Kasparov was born in the Soviet Union in 1963. He was born in Baku, in the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan.
His father Kim was from Azerbaijan, while his mother Klara was from Armenia.
His father Kim died in 1970, when Garry was only seven years old. His mother Klara died in Russia 2020.
Garry wanted to attend the funeral, but he decided not to go, because he was afraid he would be arrested if he travelled to Russia.
The first name Garry is supposedly a Russian version of Harry. His father named his son after the American president Harry S. Truman.
Garry’s parents were interested in chess. When Harry was a child, he would often watch his father and mother playing a game of chess in the kitchen.
The parents did not involve their son in their chess games, but when he was five or six years old, they discovered to their surprise that he knew and understood the rules of chess.
When Garry entered a chess competition, he won quite often. But he had one problem. His coach Alexander Nikitin realised that Garry might suffer because of his Jewish family name, Weismann.
Nikitin suggested that Garry should choose a different name. Garry decided to go for Kasparov, which is a Russian name.
Under the name Garry Kasparov, the young man won one competition after another.
When he became a Russian and a Soviet champion, he was allowed to go abroad to face chess players from other countries.
His ambition was to be the world champion of chess. He reached this goal in 1985 and he was able to maintain this position for fifteen years, until 2000.
This film covers his life and career in great detail.
We follow him from the apartment in Azerbaijan to the moment when he was the best chess player in the world.
This film also covers Kasparov’s life in the twenty-first century.
He did not feel at home in a Russia which was ruled by Vladimir Putin.
In 2013, he decided to leave Russia. He moved to the US where he is still living today.
What do reviewers say about this film?
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The story is important. It deserves to be told. And in this film, it is done very well.
The participants are well-chosen. They offer useful information and they present some interesting perspectives on the case.
This film is not only about chess as a sport. It is also about the role of chess and the role of the chess player in the modern world.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
PS. Fred Waitzkin is the father of the famous chess player Joshua Waitzkin (born 1976) who was coached by Bruce Pandolfini.
Fred Waitzkin wrote a book about the amazing career of his son Joshua, which was published in 1988. The book was turned into a movie which premiered in 1993:
Searching for Bobby Fischer
REFERENCES
# 1. Books
Searching for Bobby Fischer: The Father of a Prodigy Observes the World of Chess
By Fred Waitzkin
(1988 = hardcover)
(1993 = paperback)
The Game of Chess
By Siegbert Tarrasch
(1992)
The Complete Book of Chess Strategy:
Grandmaster Techniques from A to Z
By Jeremy Silman
(1998)
This Crazy World of Chess
By Larry Evans
(2007)
Winter is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped
By Garry Kasparov
(2015 = hardcover)
(2016 = paperback)
Mortal Games:
The Turbulent Genius of Garry Kasparov
By Fred Waitzkin
(2017)
A World of Chess: Its Development and Variations Through Centuries and Civilizations
By Jean-Louis Cazaux and Rick Knowlton
(2017)
The Mammoth Book of Chess
By Graham Burgess
(first published in 1997)
(a second edition published in 2022)
# 2. Film and video
The Grass Arena
(1991)
Searching for Bobby Fischer
(1993)
The Luzhin Defence
(2000)
Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine
(2003)
Queen to Play
(2009)
Me and Bobby Fischer
(2009)
Barbaric Genius
(2011)
Bobby Fischer Against the World
(2011)
Brooklyn Castle
(2012)
Computer Chess
(2013)
Pawn Sacrifice
(2014)
The Queen of Katwe
(2016)
Magnus
(2016)
The Chess Player
(original Spanish title: El jugador de ajedrez)
(2017)
The Coldest Game
(2019)
The Queen’s Gambit
(this is a miniseries with seven episodes)
(2020)
Chess Story
(Also known as The Royal Game)
(2021)
*****
The famous chess player
Garry Kasparov
(born 1963)
World champion of chess
1985-2000
*****
The chess board and the
thirty-two pieces lined up:
Sixteen black and
sixteen white
*****
*****
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