CELEBRITY FRIDAY: Tobey Maguire is Bobby Fischer in The New Movie Pawn Sacrifice

The new film Pawn Sacrifice based on the true life story of chess champion Bobby Fischer stars Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man, The Cider House Rules) as the American chess genius who faced Russian Boris Spassky (played by Liev Schrieber) in Reykjavik in 1972 in what was billed "the match of the century" to decide the world chess championship. The film opens in limited release this weekend.

Since I am an accomplished chess player myself I am always interested in popular depictions of chess and chess-playing in the media. Since Fischer is the best chess player America has ever produced, he is irresistible to Hollywood and his story has been told in multiple adaptations.