Chess Fever

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.

Chess Fever (1925)