Pavius Fromm est un jeune génie des échecs, impétueux et provocateur. Lituanien, il a fui son pays et la mainmise soviétique, et réside en Occident. Pour la finale du championnat du monde d'échecs en Suisse, il doit affronter un compatriote bien plus âgé, Liebskind, qui a, lui, le soutien du régime.
Teenage chess champ Billie (Alia Shawkat) faces the prospect of defeat for the first time when she faces her best friend (Alex Frost) at the biggest chess tournament of her career.
The film is set in an empty park during autumn. The title character, Geri (voiced by Bob Peterson), is an elderly man who plays a game of chess against himself, "becoming" each of the players in turn by moving to the other side of the chessboard, where he changes his personality and either puts on or takes off his glasses to show this change. As the game progresses, it seems as though there are two people playing; at one point, the hands of both "opponents" are in frame. Black Geri (without the glasses) soon gains the upper hand over White Geri (with them), capturing every piece except his king and putting him in check. However, White Geri outsmarts Black Geri by faking a heart attack to distract him and spinning the board around. While Black Geri is still distracted, White Geri checkmates what is now his opponent's king. Finding that now he is the one with only his king left and discovering what has happened, Black Geri resigns the game and hands over a set of dentures as the prize. White Geri puts them in, then chuckles and grins in his victory, before the camera pulls back to reveal that he is alone at the chessboard.
It's the early 1920s and Aleksandr Ivanovich 'Sascha' Luzhin (Turturro), a gifted but tormented chess player, arrives in a Northern Italian city to compete in an international chess competition. Prior to the tournament he meets Natalia Katkov (Watson) and he falls in love with her almost immediately. She in turn finds his manner to be appealing and they begin to see each other in spite of her mother's disapproval.
The hero's (Vladimir Fogel) preoccupation with chess leads to him missing his own wedding ceremony, but the marital peace is restored with the help of the World Chess Champion, José Raúl Capablanca.
Chess world champion Centowic wants to travel by ship to an important chess tournament. The ship, however, starts behind schedule, because a mysterious and obviously anxious passenger, who is on his way to the port with Bishop Ambrosse, is expected.
The film revolves around a sibling rivalry between two brothers, Hershell and Thadeus Graves (played by Gonzales and Tiga, respectively), as they compete during a game of chess. Peaches plays Marsha Thirteen, a former performance artist and the shared love interest of both brothers.
En 1958, Robert James “Bobby” Fischer, alors âgé de quatorze ans, stupéfia le monde des échecs en devenant le plus jeune Grand Maître de l’histoire, lançant ainsi une carrière qui allait faire de lui une légende. Pendant les quinze années qui suivirent, son incroyable ascension au sommet du jeu captiva le monde entier et permit aux échecs de connaître un essor international considérable. Puis, à l’apogée de sa réussite, Bobby Fischer prit tout le monde par surprise en décidant de disparaître des yeux du grand public.
Un jeune patriote polonais nommé Boleslas, dont la tête est mise à prix, tente de s'enfuir des frontières russes, dissimulé dans un des automates du baron de Kempelen. Un agent de Catherine II de Russie, qui a compris le subterfuge, achète l'automate pour le livrer à l'impératrice. Celui-ci sera amené à se trahir au cours d'une partie d'échecs.
Ambroise rencontre Max, un enfant taciturne, et découvre qu'il a un don extraordinaire aux échecs. Voulant en profiter, il l'accompagne et l'élève, et une fois adulte, le fait jouer contre Lord Staunton, le plus condescendant des champions du moment, à l'occasion d'un tournoi organisé par la marquise de Theux, férue de sciences et de jeu, dans son élégant château. La marquise donnera sa fille, la ravissante Anne-Lise, au vainqueur de ce tournoi.