Skip to footer

'Computer Chess' shows real affection for its subjects

( Unrated ) ( Monitor Movie Guide )

'Computer Chess' is shot as a faux documentary and takes place over a weekend conference where programmers face off against chess software.

|
Courtesy of Kino Lorber, Inc.
'Computer Chess' stars Wiley Wiggins (l.) and Patrick Riester (center).
  • By Peter Rainer Film critic

I hope it won’t be interpreted as slim praise if I say that “Computer Chess,” set in 1980, is one of the best movies about pre-Internet nerds ever made. After all, it’s not easy making the pocket protector crowd interesting, even fascinating.

The key, I think, is that writer-director Andrew Bujalski holds out great affection for these people. Shot as a faux documentary in black and white, the film takes place during an annual regional weekend conference where geek programmers compete with their latest chess software. With one exception, all the entrants are male, presided over by a chess master (a very funny Gerald Peary) who boasts he can beat any program. The hotel housing the event is also the setting for a couples-therapy confab. Geeks and swingers. What a combination. Grade: B+ (Unrated.)

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to 'Computer Chess' shows real affection for its subjects
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Movies/2013/0809/Computer-Chess-shows-real-affection-for-its-subjects
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe