Chess Fever (Russian: Шахматная горячка, romanized: Shakhmatnaya goryachka) is a 1925 Soviet silent comedy film directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin and Nikolai Shpikovsky [ru].
In Moscow during the international chess tournament of 1925, the hero (Vladimir Fogel) and heroine (Anna Zemtsova) of the story are engaged to be married.
Caught up in a society-wide chess fever, the hero forgets about his marital obligations and must beg for her forgiveness.
Chess Fever is the directorial debut of Vsevolod Pudovkin, who had previously worked as a screenwriter, actor, and art director, and as an assistant to Lev Kuleshov.
Chess Fever influenced author Vladimir Nabokov's 1930 novel The Luzhin Defence, published in the United States as The Defense.