 thunk United States. January 06 2009 15:18. Posts 5608 | Profile Blog |
I wasted my Monday night, which I should have used to do homework, to watch Chill's favorite movie.
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Searching_for_bobby_fischer.jpg/200px-Searching_for_bobby_fischer.jpg)
I liked Searching For Bobby Fischer, and probably will place it in my favorite movies just by virtue of the fact that writing this blog will help me remember it. My recall of "favorite movies" is not so good, but other notables include Hopscotch and Good Night, and Good Luck.
In a day and age when the desire to win can be unreasonably strong, the themes in Searching for Bobby Fischer are meaningful and powerful.
I appreciate Josh Waitzkin. Some of the most talented kids I know choose not to do things they're good at. They just don't, and as long as they're happy doing what they're doing, it's fine. And I know kids who do like doing things they're not good at. I play Starcraft, to name an easy example.
There isn't enough merit rewarded in finding passions. I know I like Starcraft because I'm not going to go far in it nor am I competitive enough to win every game, but I play it anyways. The people who question why foreigner SC players quit should not; there is no reason to do something you have no longer delight in doing.
On a different end of the spectrum, I know kids who claim they enjoy doing certain things, certain "passions". She claims, "My passions have become my activities". Her activities include learning (studying), leadership, community service, dance, and badminton (for only 1 season out of the year). I will point out that all of these can put on a college application.
Josh Waitzkin has earned my respect because he continues to play and be good at chess and lead a multifaceted life, something difficult in the all-consuming world of chess. He found his passions, and sometimes his passion didn't always line up with his talents. He would be one to argue that doing what you like to do, regardless of whether or not it lines up with your innate ability, needs no reward. Last edit: 2009-01-06 15:19:30
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 stanley_ United States. January 06 2009 15:29. Posts 674 | Profile Blog |
Would you give this movie 5 stars?
I'm tempted to watch it now. |
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| MoltkeWarding Canada. January 06 2009 15:33. Posts 4000 | Profile Blog |
| The best thing about this film was the ingenious combination the protagonist uses to win the tournament final. |
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| thunk United States. January 06 2009 15:41. Posts 5608 | Profile Blog |
On January 06 2009 15:29 stanley_ wrote:
Would you give this movie 5 stars?
I'm tempted to watch it now.
The 5 star rating is really ambiguous; you have no means of standardizing nor normalizing the metric so scores can be deflated or inflated on so the movies become ranked on a non-normal scale. Not that you'd want a normal scale when judging movies. The movie industry would really want one that's skewed left (aka lots of 4s and 5s) to get people to see movies because it's 4 stars out of 5 or 5 stars out of 5.
On January 06 2009 15:33 MoltkeWarding wrote:
The best thing about this film was the ingenious combination the protagonist uses to win the tournament final.
According to Wikipedia, the movement combo is flawed a major mistake was needed on Jonathan Poe's part. Which he committed, but he could have only played to a draw, not a win. |
| | Every time Jung Myung Hoon builds a vulture, two probes die. |
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 IzzyCraft United States. January 06 2009 15:48. Posts 4487 | Profile Blog |
On January 06 2009 15:29 stanley_ wrote:
Would you give this movie 5 stars?
I'm tempted to watch it now.
I would it's one of my favs =) |
| I have ass for brains so,
even when I shit I'm droping knowledge. |
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 zOula... Spain. January 06 2009 15:52. Posts 254 | Profile Blog |
i remember watching this and loving it as a kid...haven't even thought about it in probably 10+ years tho... thanks for the reminder about this movie  |
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 fusionsdf Canada. January 06 2009 16:04. Posts 14044 | Profile Blog |
apparently josh waitzkin doesnt even play chess anymore and just does martial arts
hes written some of the pieces for the grandmaster chess program series too |
| | MyDream fan | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eqM-42YZxo&fmt=18 ᶫᵒᵛᵉᵧₒᵤ. |
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 heyoka United States. January 06 2009 16:05. Posts 1722 | Profile Blog |
| I also liked this movie but I haven't seen it since jr high |
| | never trust a big butt and a smile |
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 LuckyFool United States. January 06 2009 16:16. Posts 1585 | Profile Blog |
I saw this movie as a kid and it definitely is one of my all time favorites.
Got me into chess too, and learning all about Bobby Fischer.Last edit: 2009-01-06 16:24:18 |
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| MoltkeWarding Canada. January 06 2009 16:18. Posts 4000 | Profile Blog |
On January 06 2009 15:41 thunk wrote:
Show nested quote +On January 06 2009 15:29 stanley_ wrote:
Would you give this movie 5 stars?
I'm tempted to watch it now.
The 5 star rating is really ambiguous; you have no means of standardizing nor normalizing the metric so scores can be deflated or inflated on so the movies become ranked on a non-normal scale. Not that you'd want a normal scale when judging movies. The movie industry would really want one that's skewed left (aka lots of 4s and 5s) to get people to see movies because it's 4 stars out of 5 or 5 stars out of 5.
Show nested quote +On January 06 2009 15:33 MoltkeWarding wrote:
The best thing about this film was the ingenious combination the protagonist uses to win the tournament final.
According to Wikipedia, the movement combo is flawed a major mistake was needed on Jonathan Poe's part. Which he committed, but he could have only played to a draw, not a win.
I must be missing something then. The way I see it with the advanced pawn:
... Nxe5
h5 Nf7
Kf6 Nh6
Kg6 a5
Kxh6 a4
Kg6 ...
from then on black wins.
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| thunk United States. January 06 2009 16:20. Posts 5608 | Profile Blog | |
| | Every time Jung Myung Hoon builds a vulture, two probes die. |
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 Chill Canada. January 06 2009 16:24. Posts 12186 | Profile Blog |
I went through the final combination so many times so I could write it down. I've lost it now, but I remember it actually made sense, which was very surprising coming from a movie.
Edit: Oh I'm late I see. I'm not saying that it was solid moves (clearly it wasn't) but at least it made sense. Last edit: 2009-01-06 16:26:12 |
| | She also isn't my hero. The only hero's I have is our Founders, specifically Thomas Jefferson and my parents. |
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 Fen Australia. January 06 2009 18:37. Posts 1494 | Profile Blog |
The final game in the movie was actually a copy of a famous game between two grandmasters.
I loved this movie. After watching it I went on a huge chess binge. Got the chessmaster game with Josh Waitzkin teaching you how to play properely, and started challenging people who used to dominate me in chess to games. Of course I starting owning them which was great.
This goes in my list of favourite movies of all time, its very inspiring. |
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| SilverSkyLark Philippines. January 06 2009 19:38. Posts 5109 | Profile Blog |
dude the last game was the shit man....12 moves to checkmate? Darn that owns.
and yeah, too bad Bobby Fischer is already dead...at the age of 64... |
| | "If i lost an arm, I would play w3." -IntoTheWow |
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 BlackJack United States. January 06 2009 20:59. Posts 4086 | Profile Blog |
On January 06 2009 16:18 MoltkeWarding wrote:
Show nested quote +On January 06 2009 15:41 thunk wrote:
On January 06 2009 15:29 stanley_ wrote:
Would you give this movie 5 stars?
I'm tempted to watch it now.
The 5 star rating is really ambiguous; you have no means of standardizing nor normalizing the metric so scores can be deflated or inflated on so the movies become ranked on a non-normal scale. Not that you'd want a normal scale when judging movies. The movie industry would really want one that's skewed left (aka lots of 4s and 5s) to get people to see movies because it's 4 stars out of 5 or 5 stars out of 5.
On January 06 2009 15:33 MoltkeWarding wrote:
The best thing about this film was the ingenious combination the protagonist uses to win the tournament final.
According to Wikipedia, the movement combo is flawed a major mistake was needed on Jonathan Poe's part. Which he committed, but he could have only played to a draw, not a win.
I must be missing something then. The way I see it with the advanced pawn: ... Nxe5 h5 Nf7 Kf6 Nh6 Kg6 a5 Kxh6 a4 Kg6 ... from then on black wins.
Why would the king move to f6 then g6 when it can just move to g6 in the first place?
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 Naib Hungary. January 06 2009 21:35. Posts 4226 | Profile Blog |
| That's a good movie, I should watch it again sometime soon. I was in my early teens last time I've seen it or something like that. |
| | In life we are born different, and die equal, in StarCraft we are born equal and die different. |
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 gg_hertzz January 06 2009 22:54. Posts 2087 | Profile Blog |
| I've been searching for a place to download this movie in the last 12 months, just couldn't find any. |
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 kefkalives Australia. January 07 2009 01:12. Posts 1071 | Profile Blog |
| Just watched the movie because of this blog. now its 3:10 am. awesome movie though. |
| | prOxi.bOn ; I tried to put my finger on it, but i gave it my whole arm. Reached out with good intentions, but i only did more harm. |
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| Chill Canada. January 07 2009 01:45. Posts 12186 | Profile Blog |
On January 06 2009 22:54 gg_hertzz wrote:
I've been searching for a place to download this movie in the last 12 months, just couldn't find any.
Haha it's the only DVD I own because of this.
Wow I can't believe how many people like this movie ^_^ Yay! |
| | She also isn't my hero. The only hero's I have is our Founders, specifically Thomas Jefferson and my parents. |
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 gm.tOSS Germany. January 07 2009 02:20. Posts 416 | Profile |
| Thx for the tip - will watch and comment later. |
| | I fluffing <3 By.Flash | TL.net delivers | "I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes." |
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