El duelo del siglo

Among other films or TV series shot on the wave of increased interest in the topic of chess, I think this is quite a good option.

For knowledgeable people, this will be a curious artistic interpretation of history. As an amateur in this matter, it was just interesting for me to watch what was happening and get lost with delight in words like "endgame", "debut" or the visual thought process of chess players.

I also quite liked the presented entourage of the Soviet era. Interiors, clothes, this sincere patriotism and team spirit ... the only thing that really disappointed was the disclosure (or rather complete absence) of the character of Konstantin Khobensky, grandmaster Korchnoi. I think he was not necessarily a good person, but definitely an interesting and creative person. And in the film we see only an angry man on the verge of madness.

The main character has principles, life problems, accompanying experiences, and so on, and so on. I would like the same from the picture of the "villain".

In general, a good film to broaden your horizons.

I love Khabensky as an actor and I've seen many of his movies, I know what he's capable of but this one doesn't give him a lot of time or freedom for that matter to truly shine. His character is unlikable almost from the start and we as viewers are fed with hate toward him almost immediately and given what the creators of this movie intended to show it's understandable: they needed a villain, a certain opponent to Yankovsky's Karpov who turned out to be just as unlikable but for the whole different set of reasons.

The main issue with Champion of the world is that it's a caricaturistic one-dimensional bleak movie that's built on pseudo-patriotic feelings toward a true "champion" and animosity toward the bad guy, a defector, a traitor and an immoral person in general. But what actually happened to this "bad guy" to turn him into one? We will never know because we are only given the fact of his "badness" and are supposed to accept it as is. OK, but what about the good guy then? Are we given any reason to like him and empathize with him? Strike two.

Yankovsky is either a bad actor or he just presented Karpov as unemotional, cold and robotlike person whose only passion is the game and he's only in it to win it - it still doesn't make him any less of a villain to me. What's the point of screaming and shouting or sheding a tear if it's made with no effort of emotions? Khabensky was in contast more versatile and interesting to observe but the crazy persona he adopted from the script wouldn't allow me to enjoy his performance just as much.

The visual effects are great though, both the title sequence and the visualization of the matches were done beautifully, with perfect coloring and music which was overall pretty fitting except for a couple of scenes.

In the end this movie is a great example of why I don't watch russian movies that often. All about it screams patriotism, screams this is right and that is wrong, it doesn't give you any options to choose from, to interpret these and those things which is the worst way possible to make a movie. It has no antagonists, no protagonists, just some wooden characters, the conflict and the way to resolve it, it might as well just be a textbook of facts and figures and it could have been way more entertaining this way.

This movie deserves 10.

Konstantin khabensky deserves an oscar for great acting.

I loved the story, vfx, atomsphere, acting, score, directing, everything. Its glamorous, better than most of the hollywood movies.

P. N. I knew every thing that konstantin involved would be great and also watched because of him. The movie got me from the first moment to the last minute. I also like how they compared the chess table to a battle ground, the rivals watching around. It was mesmorising. Well job done.

For a not russian i hope someone created a website that provides english subtitle to russian movies and tv shows, because most of the shows dont have. If you know any site please let me know.

The trailer was initially hooked, because the film has an incredible cast. The young Ivan Yankovsky as Anatoly Karpov, the incredible Konstantin Khabensky as Korchnoi, and the beautiful Diana Pozharskaya (I like her from the Hotel Eleon series) as Karpov's wife. And of course, the joint life of the actors fueled interest in the film.

The film is, of course, biographical, but there are some inconsistencies, and the authors showed their version and their view of those events. Together with the wrestling of chess players, we saw a stagnant system in the USSR, when a step to the left, a step to the right, was tantamount to execution. Of course, under the Soviet regime, they worked for the result, but they did not always take into account the interests of the people. Apparently, therefore, Karpov's opponent Korchnoi decided to emigrate abroad. Of course, there were pluses and minuses, but it is not for us to judge, because we did not live in that country and we have nothing to compare.

A superb movie based-on a real chess event, one of the best made, if not the best, on the 1978 Baguio City World Chess Championship between Anatoly Karpov and Victor Korchnoi.

• (+) Wonderful acting by almost all the cast, especially the two rivals who shone unequivocally.

• (+) Very believable atmosphere throughout, being chess-wise or depicting emotions.

• (+) Very true to the real events, from minute one (introduction) up to the last.

• (+) Masterful depiction and development.

• (+) Great VFX combined with classic camera work.

• (+) Loved Anatoly's father (Evgeniy) and love interest (Veronika) acting. Brought tears to my eyes.

• Nothing negative to my eyes, besides wanting it to have a longer runtime, as in a series!

Recommended of course to all people. Chess lovers and not!

• Screenplay/story: 8.5
• Development: 9
• Realism: 9
• Entertainment: 9.5
• Acting: 9
• Filming/cinematography: 8.5
• Visual/special effects: 9
• Music/score: 9
• Depth: 9
• Logic: 8.5
• Flow: 9
• Drama: 9
• Ending/closure: 9.