Thursday 28 February 2019

Fictional Masters

On the flight back from Guam, I watched the 2015 version of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E". A quite enjoyable film, but it was something in the end credits that caught my eye. Fictional biographies of the two main characters, Napolean Solo and Illya Kuryakin, were being given, and one of the facts about Kuryakin was that he was an International Master with a rating of 2405. This was reinforced by one scene in the move where he was analysing a position, although it looked like opening analysis, as not many pieces had been developed.
Avoiding characters in obvious chess movies or books, I had a look at who else might be a highly rated fictional player. GM Tov Kronsteen is one example, appearing in an international tournament in "From Russia with Love" (book and film).  Roy Batty, from Blade Runner, was also pretty good, but the penalty for losing to him was pretty severe. And in looking at this list over at Bill Wall's chess page, it appears the Forrest Gump knew a thing or two about the game, although as I don't recall seeing this in the movie, his prowess was confined to the printed page.

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