New documentary on chess great Bobby Fischer premieres at Sundance Film Fest

Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi Everyone,

Director Liz Garbus has come up with an interesting documentary on chess great Bobby Fischer and the movie premieres at the Sundance Film Festival this Friday.

"Russians had dominated the sport for decades," said documentary film director Liz Garbus during a phone interview from Los Angeles, Calif., with The Park Record.

Then along came an American named Bobby Fischer. In, 1972, during the world championship match in Reykjavik, Iceland, he soundly defeated Boris Spassky, ending the Russian reign.

In the years to follow, Fischer fell victim to mental illness and died a recluse while living in Iceland in 2008. "Bobby's decline into obscurity was almost as fast as his rise," Garbus said. "It was a fascinating story and I wanted to make a movie about it."

Garbus has won an Academy Award nomination for her 1998 film 'The Farm: Angola,' and this documentary is titled 'Bobby Fischer Against the World'.

You can check showtimes and read the full interview with Garbus here.

Meanwhile, here is a nice related video. While at the Liberty Bell Open, WIM Iryna Zenyuk talks about her upcoming trip to the Sundance Film Festival. Iryna, along with GMs Joel Benjamin, Alexander Shabalov and CLO editor WGM Jennifer Shahade will work with the World Chess Hall of Fame and Museum (opening on September 8, 2011 in Saint Louis) in promoting the documentary, 'Bobby Fischer Against the World'.

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