The riveting, true story of an event so extraordinary - it could have been culled from the pages of a John Le Carré bestseller... Summer 1978 saw World Chess Champion, Anatoly Karpov - a loyal follower of the Soviet Communist Party - take on the recently defected dissident, Victor Korchnoi, for the World Chess Championship in Baguio City in the Philippines. On the surface, it was just a game of chess, but as the world s press flocked to what became known as The Battle of Baguio, it became clear that the Soviet regime were fighting for victory on every front. Before the two chess gladiators even battled over the chess board, the KGB fought a dirty tricks campaign to ensure their man gained every advantage. As the sporting championship became a war of attrition where every win was precious, the two rival teams became embroiled in the shady world of gamesmanship and double bluff. Parapsychologists, thought waves, flag wars, mirrored sunglasses, coded yoghurts, KGB agents and two Eastern mystics wanted for attempted murder, were just some of the everyday events in this dramatic story of chess, politics and sporting endeavour,
F**T
Biased documentary
This documentary is biased in favour of a traitor like korchnoi. Quite unfair on Karpov.
D**S
Prompt delivery.
Arrived timeously in good condition. Unopened at the moment. I watched the film as it was shown on television. Memories of times when chess obtained better television coverage. Do we need more players acting in an eccentric manner for the general public to take an interest?
S**N
I don't study. I create - Korchnoi
Korchnoi. Karpov. KGB. Excellent insight into the 1978 World Chess Championship. Imagine if Fischer was still playing. Kasparov was to come a few years later. The golden age of chess along with some serious international politics.
L**B
Amazing research and archive footing
Strongly recommended for anyone who is interested in either chess or Cold War history. A number of pieces of archive footage that I've not seen before, and interviews with many of the chess greats of the era, including Karpov, Timman and Kasparov. A nuanced portrait of Karpov as well. More than simply a tool of the Soviet state....
N**L
Excellent biopic with interesting coverage of this major chess event.
The insights from the various parties involved were most interesting.
J**S
Nostalgic archive footage, but very little new content.
It was kind of nice to see old footage gathered together, most of which to be fair was new to me. The talking heads inbetween this, who where famous chess figures like Kasparov, Karpov, Adams etc, were not saying anything new about the '78 match, or other chess events. This has been covered in many chess books.A nice addition for people interested in chess history, but not really essential.
Trustpilot
4 days ago
1 month ago