La Diagonale Du Fou (aka Dangerous Moves) (1984)

Set in Switzerland during the Cold War, a tournament for the World Chess Championship finds a seriously ill Russian grandmaster (Michel Piccoli) competing against a former pupil (Alexndre Arbatt) who has defected to the West. Directed by Richard Dembo, this Oscar winning film (best foreign language film) drama probably works better if you understand chess. I don't play the game myself but fortunately, the emphasis is on the human drama rather than the game itself. The players, both Russians, represent opposite ends of the political spectrum: the old Soviet guard that is part of the system and the exile living in freedom. Neither men are particularly likeable, they're both divas really but chess is their life blood and this is seen in their relationships with their wives. Piccoli's wife (Leslie Caron) is neglected while Arbatt's abandoned wife (Liv Ullmann) has become a political pawn and driven to a breakdown. It's a decent film but I've enjoyed other films on the subject more, PAWN SACRIFICE and QUEEN OF KATWE to name two. With Bernhard Wicki and Jean Hugues Anglade.