Chess Olympus
LightNews LightNews
banner
chessolympus.bsky.social
Chess Olympus
@chessolympus.bsky.social
310 followers 100 following 690 posts
A daily celebration of chess marginalia. Author of this book about Alexander Alekhine: https://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/product/Chess-Villain/
Posts Replies Media Videos
chessolympus.bsky.social
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
chessolympus.bsky.social
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
chessolympus.bsky.social
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
chessolympus.bsky.social
Richard Burton, born November 10, 1925, played some kind of fairy chess with Hazel Penwarden in a 1951 Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Tempest.
In a photo by Angus McBean, Richard Burton and Hazel Penwarden wear elaborate Elizabethan costumes and gaze lovingly at each other across a checkered board. The board is six squares by nine and the pieces on it are exotic shapes that do not resemble traditional chess pieces.
November 10, 2025 at 3:14 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Happy birthday to Lou Ferrigno!🎂 He's turning 74, but I still wouldn't challenge him to chess boxing. The picture is from his local newspaper: bit.ly/4hEQRcu
In a photo by Jayson Mellom for the Santa Maria Sun, Lou Ferrigno poses at his kitchen table wearing a plaid shirt and smiling across a large wooden chess set.
November 9, 2025 at 3:28 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Alain Delon, born November 8, 1935, challenges Anthony Quinn during the making of The Lost Command (1966).
Alain Delon and Anthony Quinn, both wearing camouflage fatigues, play chess at a table in a cramped trailer. A third actor, also in fatigues, sits next to Delon and studies another chess board. Several men are visible milling around outside the windows in the background.
November 8, 2025 at 3:20 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Happy birthday to Christopher Knight! Based solely on his attire, I assume he was acting as arbiter for Greg and Marsha's game in this 1971 episode of The Brady Bunch.
In a scene from The Brady Bunch, Barry Williams and Maureen McCormick sit at a dining-room table playing chess. They both wear blue t-shirts and look up from the game at Christopher Knight, who is approaching the table wearing a gray suit and tie.
November 7, 2025 at 4:15 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Jacques Charrier (left), born November 6, 1933, played chess in the modern style in The Third Lover (1962).
In a scene from The Third Lover, Jacques Charrier and Walther Reyer sit at a table in a well-appointed living room smoking cigars, drinking wine, and playing chess with a Max Ernst-designed modernist chess set. Stéphane Audran watches from a sofa in the background.
November 6, 2025 at 4:18 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Character actor Herb Edelman, born November 5, 1933, liked chess, cats and wine in The Yakuza (1974). Hat tip to catsonfilm.net for posting this screenshot (we all have that thing we clock immediately when it shows up in a movie).
In a scene from The Yakuza, Herb Edelman sits on a sofa and smiles. He holds a glass of wine in one hand and holds a cat on his lap with the other. A polished stone chess set is set up on the coffee table in front of him.
November 5, 2025 at 3:04 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Happy birthday to Matthew McConaughey, who unrealistically preferred drinking margaritas with Camila Alves to chess in an ad for his tequila brand.
In a 2024 commercial for Pantalones Tequila, Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves lounge on a sofa drinking from cocktail glasses. A wooden chess set sits on the coffee table in front of them.
November 4, 2025 at 3:17 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Jeremy Brett, the Holmes I grew up with, was born November 3, 1933.
In a scene from an episode of Sherlock Holmes, Jeremy Brett leans on a table in a library where a chess game is in progress. Brett wears a top coat and gloves and holds a hat.
November 3, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Chess Olympus
jazwiseman.bsky.social
Patrick McGoohan and Don Chaffey playing chess - they formed a strong working relationship between 1964-66, with Don directing 14 episodes of the 50 minute Danger Man series. He also directed four episodes of The Prisoner including Checkmate. I wonder who won this game?
November 2, 2025 at 9:34 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Happy birthday to Jason Cerbone!🎂 Losing at chess was the last thing he ever did in The Sopranos.
In a scene from Season 3, Episode 13 of The Sopranos, Jason Cerbone plays chess with a child of about twelve at a kitchen table while Michael K. Williams watches from the side.
November 2, 2025 at 2:45 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
November 1 is Hello Kitty's canonical birthday. If you want to celebrate with a themed chess game, Sanrio has you covered.
The red king and queen from a Hello Kitty chess set stand side by side on a pink and white chess board. Other pieces are visible in the background.
November 1, 2025 at 3:20 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Happy Halloween, everybody!
Alexander Alekhine stands in a doorway wearing a suit and a homemade jumper with the image of a black cat on it.
October 31, 2025 at 2:13 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Roseanne Murray, born October 31, 1920, takes an intense interest in Reshevsky's game at the 1945 Pan-American Championship. From Chess Review, October 1945.
Sammy Reshevsky and Weaver Adams play chess in a tournament setting while a crowd of about ten people watch from behind a rope barrier. Front and center in the crowd is Roseanne Murray, seated. The caption reads, "Pretty, redheaded Rosanne Murray, who has an important role in Universal's 'A Night in Paradise,' was one of the most frequent visitors to the Pan-American Championship. Chess Review's photographer catches her twice--at Herman Steiner's table, and later during the tense game between Reshevsky (left) and Adams."
October 31, 2025 at 2:11 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Happy birthday to Janel Parrish, who bonded with Noah Gray-Cabey over chess in a 2019 episode of Pretty Little Liars.
In a scene from Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, Noah Gray-Cabey and Jane Parrish play chess with a wooden travel set and a chess clock at an outdoor table. Both wear coats.
October 30, 2025 at 1:40 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Happy birthday to Reema Sen, who was on the losing end of a game of strip chess in Chellame (2004).
In a scene from Chellame, Reema Sen looks down at a chess board and smiles as her opponent, with his back to the camera, makes a move.
October 29, 2025 at 2:25 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Happy birthday to Frank Ocean, who played a little chess in an unaired Samsung ad around 2013.
Frank Ocean sits cross-legged on the floor in front of some large windows, concentrating on a chess set in front of him with its pieces arrayed in their starting positions.
October 28, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by Chess Olympus
animalarchaeology.com
🏺 We did some pumpkin carving tonight. I attempted to carve mine based off of the Lewis Chessmen, which are some of my favourite artefacts of all time.
A photo of two pumpkins - on the left is a small oval sized pumpkin carved with a medieval-style face depicting a wide eyed man with a big moustache and clenched teeth. On the right is a mini pumpkin that’s not carved. A photo of the carved pumpkin with the medieval style face now lit up. A photo of the Lewis Chessman replica that the pumpkin carving is based on - it shows a wide eyed warrior with a big mustache and a pointed helmet. He is carrying a long sword in his right hand and a big shield in his left, which is set in front of his body. He is biting the top.
October 24, 2025 at 6:57 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Happy birthday to Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ, who played some garden chess in the Turkish soap opera Forbidden Love.
In a scene from Forbidden Love, Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ plays chess in a lush garden. He and his opponent sit in wicker chairs with a large wooden chess set on a low table between them.
October 27, 2025 at 1:45 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Happy birthday to Dylan McDermott, who was profiled in the NYT in 2022 looking stylish and neglecting his king's security.
In a 2022 photograph by Peter Fisher, Dylan McDermott sits behind an outdoor chess table on a New York street. He wears a leather coat and a black scarf and looks broodingly into the distance. A close look at the board reveals that McDermott's opponent is in position to deliver discovered check with a knight and queen.
October 26, 2025 at 2:05 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Live your life so that if you die at 100, people will still say you’re gone too soon.
chessolympus.bsky.social Chess Olympus @chessolympus.bsky.social · Jun 25
Happy 100th birthday to June Lockhart!🎂 Here she is keeping the family busy with chess in Lost in Space.
In a 1967 episode of Lost in Space, June Lockhart and Marta Kristen play chess. The family's robot, Angela Cartwright, and Bill Mumy are visible in the background looking out a window.
October 26, 2025 at 3:44 AM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Happy birthday to Þorsteinn Bachmann, who played some dramatic chess with Ingvar Sigurdsson in the 2011 short Skáksaga (Chess Story).
In a scene from Chess Story, Þorsteinn Bachmann and Ingvar Sigurdsson face each other across a chess board in a dark room dramatically lit from above.
October 25, 2025 at 2:25 PM
chessolympus.bsky.social
Happy birthday to F. Murray Abraham, the classic wise old guy offering life lessons through chess in A Little Game (2014).
In a scene from A Little Game, Makenna Ballard, about twelve years old, plays chess with F. Murray Abraham at a stone chess table in a park.
October 24, 2025 at 3:03 PM