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Chess Olympus
@chessolympus.bsky.social
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A daily celebration of chess marginalia. Author of this book about Alexander Alekhine: https://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/product/Chess-Villain/
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Cestmír Randa (left), born December 5, 1923, was a sometime chess player and full-time schemer in The Devil's Trap (1962).
In a scene from The Devil's Trap, Cestmír Randa plays chess with another actor in a spacious dining room. Both wear 18th century outfits.
December 5, 2025 at 2:18 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
102 years ago today, Alekhine poses with fans in Montreal. From American Chess Bulletin, January 1924.
Group photo of twelve men in suits. The caption reads, "Alekhine among Montreal Chess Friends," and identifies the photo as "taken by Duprage, Dec. 4, 1923."
December 4, 2025 at 3:00 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Happy birthday to Amanda Seyfried, who took down the red queen as Alice in a 2008 Vogue Italia spread.
In a photo by Mark Seliger for Vogue Italia, Amanda Seyfried, wearing a short red dress and white stockings, embraces a five-foot red chess queen and tips it toward her. She stands in a large concrete culvert surrounded by oversized white chess pieces.
December 3, 2025 at 2:48 PM
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On this day in 1919, Capablanca blew through the House of Commons for a simultaneous exhibition. From American Chess Bulletin, January 1920.
Item from the January, 1920 issue of American Chess Bulletin describing J.R. Capablanca's exhibition at the British House of Commons on December 2, 1919.
December 2, 2025 at 2:55 PM
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Akiba Rubinstein, one of the best players who never got a world title shot, was born December 1, 1880. Here he is competing with Bogolyubov in Moscow, 1925.
Efim Bogolyubov and Akiba Rubenstein sit at a table playing chess in a tournament setting.
December 1, 2025 at 2:52 PM
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Richard Crenna, who wouldn't cooperate in Mark de Jonge's chess game in Rambo III (1988), was born November 30, 1926.
In a scene from Rambo III, Richard Crenna, looking dirty and haggard in a khaki shirt, sits at a table where a chess game is in progress and looks up at Mark de Jonge, who looms over the table in the extreme foreground.
November 30, 2025 at 3:08 PM
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Happy birthday to Tom Taylor, who wrote this matchup between Superman and The Flash.
In a panel from the Injustice: Gods Among Us comic, Superman and The Flash sit opposite each other at a chess board. Outer space is visible in the window behind them. Superman asks, "How fast can you think?" Flash says, "There's no way of knowing that," and Superman responds, "No."
November 29, 2025 at 2:54 PM
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Happy birthday to Alan Ritchson, who broke out the chess pieces for a Men's Health photo shoot in 2024.
An array of chess pieces is photographed from below, through a glass table. Above, Alan Ritchson reaches (no pun intended) to move a piece.
November 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
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Happy birthday to Lashana Lynch, who played this suspenseful scene in Day of the Jackal (2024), where it looks like a chess game could break out at any moment.
In a scene from Day of the Jackal, Lia Williams and Lashana Lynch sit side by side in leather chairs in an office, having a conversation. A large chess board with red and white Lewis-style chessmen sits on a glass coffee table in front of them.
November 27, 2025 at 2:53 PM
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Tina Turner, born November 26, 1939, played head games with a Typical Male in 1986.
In a scene from the music video for Typical Male, Tina Turner plays chess with a stereotypically nerdy man. As her opponent reaches to make a move, Turner gives him a sultry look.
November 26, 2025 at 2:52 PM
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Maureen Swanson, born November 25, 1932, looks a little surprised at Robert Taylor's strategy in Knights of the Round Table (1953). From Chess Review, February 1954.
In a scene from Knights of the Round Table, Maureen Swanson stares at Robert Taylor across a table where a chess game is in progress. Taylor holds a chess piece and looks at it contemplatively. The caption reads, "Though chess was unknown in King Arthur's time, much of the Arthur Legend is anachronistic--even the formal tournaments of Malory's and Tennyson's versions. So it seems highly appropriate to depict the chivalric game of chess in a picture of the very spirit of chivalry."
November 25, 2025 at 2:13 PM
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Happy birthday to Katherine Heigl, who played chess poolside for GQ magazine in 2007.
In a fashion photo by Alei Hay, Katherine Heigl lounges by a pool in a short black dress, her body partly covering a large chess board with elaborately carved figurative pieces. Heigl looks at the camera and holds a piece in the air as if to move it.
November 24, 2025 at 2:49 PM
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Harpo Marx, born November 23, 1888, was the worst kind of kibitzer in Monkey Business (1931).
In a scene from Monkey Business, two middle-aged men in suits sit at a table playing chess, each with his elbows on the table and resting his chin on his hands. Harpo Marx sits at the table watching the game from the side, mimicking the players' posture.
November 23, 2025 at 3:58 PM
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Roland Winters, born November 22, 1904, was in a chess match with his conniving secretary but didn't know it in a 1965 episode of Perry Mason.
In a scene from Perry Mason, Roland Winters sits at a table where a chess set is arranged. He holds the white king contemplatively while Jeanne Bal approaches the table from the side.
November 22, 2025 at 4:01 PM
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Happy birthday to Michael Strahan, who had a chess set at the ready in case he wanted to play Carl Weathers in the 2009 sitcom Brothers.
In a scene from Brothers, Carl Weathers and Michael Strahan sit together on a leather couch. A chess set with a game in progress is set up on the coffee table in front of them.
November 21, 2025 at 2:50 PM
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Happy birthday to Gina Hiraizumi, who got to challenge Mercedes Ruehl in The Nana Project (2023).
In a scene from The Nana Project, Gina Hiraizumi lounges on a bed with a wooden chess set in front of her. Her opponent, Mercedes Ruehl, is partly visible with her back to the camera. A third person can be seen behind them, wearing pajamas.
November 20, 2025 at 3:16 PM
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Happy birthday to Bollywood legend Zeenat Aman!🎂 This photo of her playing chess is widely available online, but I couldn't trace it to its source.
In a photo that looks like it dates from the 1970s, Zeenat Aman looks at the camera across a chess board and lifts a piece to make a move.
November 19, 2025 at 2:42 PM
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November 18 is Latvian independence day, which is as good a time as any to post some Tal content.
Cover of the March, 1961 issue of Chess Review magazine, featuring a photo of Mikhail Tal concentrating over a chess board. The story inside is about Tal's upcoming attempt to defend his world championship title against Mikhail Botvinnik.
November 18, 2025 at 3:00 PM
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Rock Hudson November 17, 1925, competes with Sandra Dee during the making of Come September (1961).
In a Getty Images photo, Sandra Dee and Rock Hudson smile and play chess with a travel set on what looks like a marble bar top.
November 17, 2025 at 3:17 PM
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Burgess Meredith, whose incredibly long career included this chess game in Magnificent Doll (1946), was born November 16, 1907.
In a scene from Magnificent Doll, Burgess Meredith and another actor play chess at a table in a grand living room. David Niven stands to one side, gesturing at the board. All wear formal 18th-century clothes.
November 16, 2025 at 3:16 PM
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Yaphet Kotto, born November 15, 1939, kept his cool no matter how intense the chess got during the making of Live and Let Die (1973).
Yaphet Kotto reaches to make a move on a travel chess set on the hood of a car while Roger Moore playfully threatens him with a prop revolver. Three other actors watch from the side.
November 15, 2025 at 4:56 PM
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Ray Sharkey (left), born November 14, 1952, competed in chess and love with his buddy Michael Ontkean in Willie and Phil (1980).
In a scene from Willie and Phil, Ray Sharkey and Michael Ontkean play chess at a stone table in a park. A game of checkers in progress is visible behind them.
November 14, 2025 at 3:41 PM
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Jack Elam (right), born November 13, 1920, is in pretty much every western you've ever seen. Here he is as a rough ranch hand with a secret skill at chess in a 1961 episode of The Rifleman (it's on YouTube! youtu.be/pGWIaoBZmnA?... ).
In a scene from The Rifleman, Charles Reade and Jack Elam sit at a kitchen table playing chess. Behind them, Sean McClory and Lawrence Dobkin shake hands while Chuck Connors watches. Everyone smiles broadly. The surroundings are rustic and everyone wears 19th-century western clothes.
November 13, 2025 at 2:58 PM
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Kim Hunter, born November 12, 1922, looked good in uniform and played cafe chess in A Matter of Life and Death (1946).
In a scene from A Matter of Life and Death, Kim Hunter sits at a green felted table and plays chess with a club-style plastic set. She wears a gray military uniform. Roger Livesey sits to the side of the table and leans in to speak to Hunter.
November 12, 2025 at 3:00 PM
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When WWI ended, Emanuel Lasker's first instinct was to get out of Europe for a while. "I am rather sick of war, famine, revolution, immorality and violence." From American Chess Bulletin, November 1919.
Item from the November, 1919 issue of American Chess Bulletin under the headline, "Word from Dr. E. Lasker." The text explains that Lasker has written to Walter Penn Shipley asking if some chess clubs would book him for a tour of the U.S.
November 11, 2025 at 2:44 PM