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chessolympus.bsky.social
Chess Olympus
@chessolympus.bsky.social
310 followers 100 following 710 posts
A daily celebration of chess marginalia. Author of this book about Alexander Alekhine: https://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/product/Chess-Villain/
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chessolympus.bsky.social
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
chessolympus.bsky.social
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
chessolympus.bsky.social
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
chessolympus.bsky.social
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
chessolympus.bsky.social
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
chessolympus.bsky.social
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
chessolympus.bsky.social
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
chessolympus.bsky.social
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
chessolympus.bsky.social
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
chessolympus.bsky.social
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
Reposted by Chess Olympus
60minutes.bsky.social
Brains meet brawn in the world of chess boxing, a sport in which competitors face off on the chess board and also in the boxing ring. 60 Minutes reports, Sunday. 60Minutes.com
November 15, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Chess Olympus
oregonthedm.bsky.social
Part 4 of 200 in historically interesting things to inspire your ttrpg

One of Stalin’s pipes, depicting him and FDR playing chess. It was given to him in 1945 by the visiting US chess team
As said in wood?
November 13, 2025 at 4:28 AM
chessolympus.bsky.social
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
chessolympus.bsky.social
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
chessolympus.bsky.social
“Chess commentator.” The Onion knows how to cite a credible source.
November 15, 2025 at 5:46 AM
chessolympus.bsky.social
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
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