Chess and TV
by Bill Wall

On February 11, 1952, "The Game of Chess," starring Vincent Price (1911-1993), was one of the episodes (Season 2, Episode 25) in the CBS show "Lux Video Theatre" (TV series from 1950 to 1959). On July 17, 1952, an episode (Season 1, Episode 2) called "The Chess Match" was aired in the TV series Mister Peepers (1952-1955) on NBC. Mr. Robinson Peepers (Wally Cox (1924-1973)), the shy science teacher at Jefferson Junior High, is playing basketball by himself and somehow gets stuck in the basket. There is no one available to help him out of the basket. This dilemma means that he is unable to serve as speaker at Mrs. Gurney's flower club that evening as promised, nor at a chess match that Mr. Gurney wants him to participate in (Mr. Peepers was the Tri-State Chess Champion). Peepers's solution is to have both the chess match and the flower club meeting take place in the gymnasium, where he talks about potting soil to the ladies and wins the chess game against another high school's champion from his perch in the basket. In the 1950s, Ernie Kovacs had his own TV show. In one of his shows, he had a gag of a blindfold chess master playing 4 masters at once and could beat them in one move. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNwbrTyYxd8) In 1953, "The Royal Game," written by Stefan Zweig in 1941, appeared on television. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtToPEPIHMQ) On February 4, 1953, Kraft Television Theater Theatre (NBC TV series from 1947 to 1958) had an episode (#357) called "The Chess Game." Joey Walsh (as John Green) gives a touching performance as a reformed juvenile delinquent. It appeared again on Aug 31, 1955. On December 15, 1953, an episode (Season 6, Episode 12) called "Cagliostro and the Chess Player," starring Jack Palance (1919-2006), appeared on "Suspense" (CBS TV series from 1949 to 1954). Count Alessandro di Cagliostro engages Poland's King Stanislaus in a game with his mechanical chess player. On May 5, 1954, a one hour live performance TV show called "Alice in Wonderland" aired on the NBC Kraft Theatre (1947-1958). Ernest Traux was the White Knight and Arnold Moss was the Red Knight. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-ka4honG5s) On November 12, 1954, an episode (Season 2, Episode 6) called "The Chess Player" appeared on the CBS TV series Topper. Cosmo Topper is expecting a visit from his pen pal chess partner, whom he has never met. When he meets him for the first time, he is surprised that his correspondence chess opponent was a young boy genius who doesn't believe in ghosts. Topper was a TV series from 1953 to 1955, starring the English actor Leo G. Carroll (1886-1972). On June 6, 1955, an episode (Season 1, Episode 32) called "The Case of the Impromptu Performance" on Sherlock Holmes (1954-1955) aired on NBC. Watson runs into a backstage employee who has the black pieces and studying a position. If it is White's move, then it is a Scholar's Mate and the game is over. Watson make the move that leads to checkmate and walks out. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNTNjMVT15U) In February 1956 (season 6, episode 20), Grandmaster Isaac Kashdan (1905-1985) appeared on "You Bet Your Life" (TV series from 1950 to 1961) with Groucho Marx (1890-1977). Groucho kept calling him Mr. Ash Can. Kashdan's partner was Mrs. Helen Klein Schwartz, the mother of Tony Curtis. They did not say the magic word and failed to answer all the questions. On April 29, 1956, an episode (Season 1, Episode 31) called "The Gentleman from America" on Alfred Hitchcock Present (1955-1962) aired. This episode had a chess scene with several men playing chess at a London gentlemen's club. In June 1956, Bobby Fischer (1943-2008) first appeared on television. He was a guest on the "Home Show" with Arlene Francis (1907-2001) on NBC. Home was on TV from 1954 to 1957. On September 1956, the Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu had 13 episodes of Fu Manchu (Glen Gordon) playing chess at the beginning of the show. The board was set up wrong. On December 16, 1956, "The Chess Game," with Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) as the host, was one of the episodes (Season 5, Episode 12) on "General Electric Theater" (TV series from 1953 to 1962). A cynical intellectual shelters a 15-year-old boy who is wanted for murder. On May 12, 1957, an episode (Season 2, Episode 33) called "A Man Greatly Beloved" appeared on Alfred Hitchcock Presents (CBS and NBC TV series from 1955 to 1962). There is a chess scene with a young girl, Hildegarde Fell (played by Evelyn Rudie), playing chess (she has been playing for years) with Judge John Anderson (played by Cedric Hardwicke), but with mistakes (illegal chess moves). He gives check, and she next takes a piece and says mate. The story was by A.A. Milne, the creator of Winnie the Pooh. The host was Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980). On August 19, 1957, an episode (Season 1, Episode 8) called "The Chess Player," starring David Janssen (1931-1980), appeared on "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" (TV series from 1957 to 1960). However, only checkers was mentioned. (source: https://archive.org/details/richard_diamond_-_1x06_the_chess_player) On September 14, 1957, the first episode of Have Gun — Will Travel (1957-1963) aired on CBS. The main character, Paladin, played by Richard Boone (1917-1981) wore a nickel-plated, long-barreled Colt in an elegant black holster adorned with a sliver chess knight. Paladin's business card had the words "Have Gun Will Travel" and a drawing of a white knight chess piece. He was also an expert chess player. In 1974, a rodeo performer named Victor De Costa won a federal court judgment for trademark infringement. In rodeo appearances, he always dressed in black, called himself "Paladin," and handed out hundreds of business cards with a chess piece logo and the phrase "Have gun will travel." He was awarded more than $3 million, but died at the age of 83 before he could receive the award. On December 30, 1957, an episode (Season 5, Episode 13) called "The Chess Game" appeared on "The Danny Thomas Show (called Make Room for Daddy in the first 3 seasons)." It was a TV series from 1953 to 1965. Nurse Kathy's Uncle Sean, who has been carrying on a chess game by mail with Paddy McCormack (Harry Shannon) in Ireland, visits the Williamses. He is on the verge of losing the game, which would solidify his feelings of inferiority to Paddy, so Danny Williams (Danny Thomas (1912-1991)) tries to help him out by writing to Paddy to tell him that Uncle Sean has died, thus ending the game. Trouble ensues when Paddy announces his plans to attend the funeral. On March 26, 1958, Bobby Fischer (1943-2008) appeared on Garry Moore's (1915-1993) I've Got a Secret (CBS TV series from 1952 to 1967). It was part of a special "teenage appreciation" episode. He stumped the panel, which included Dick Clark (1929-2012). His secret was that he was the U.S. chess champion. For stumping the panel, he received two complimentary airline tickets to Europe. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ortpQ8nQuH8) On March 29, 1958, an episode (Season 1, Episode 29) called "Gun Shy" for Have Gun — Will Travel aired. In order to collect the gift of a precious jade chess set, Paladin must first intercept the men who stole it. On November 9, 1958, an episode (Season 4, Episode 6) called "Design for Loving" on Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-1962) aired. There is a scene with chess playing where the replacement Charles plays chess with Lydia. In 1960, a TV series called "Checkmate" aired on CBS, starring Sebastian Cabot, Doug McClure, and Anthony George. Guest stars included Charles Laughton, Peter Lore, and Lee Marvin. It was cancelled after 70 episodes in 1962. Checkmate, Inc was a high priced detective agency in San Francisco. On February 2, 1960, an episode (Season 2, Episode 19 (Episode #59), from The Rifleman (TV series from 1958 to 1963), starring Chuck Connors (1921-1992), called "Hero," Lucas McCain (Connors) and Marshall Micah Torrance (played by Paul Fix) are playing chess in Micah's office, and Lucas is even winning. In 1961, the TV show The Avengers was first aired in the United States. In the fourth season, the opening scene was a waiter that was stabbed to death on a large chessboard. The British TV series starred Patrick Macnee (1922-2015) as John Steed. The 4th season introduced Emma Peel, played by Diana Rigg (1938- ). (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frFWpzwos4I) On June 11, 1961, an episode (Season 1, Episode 23) called "Ed Cries Wolf," where Mister Ed, the horse, plays Wilbur in a game of chess on Mister Ed (TV series from 1958 to 1966). Mister Ed manipulates Wilbur (Alan Young) into playing chess with him, but Wilbur is reluctant to believe Ed when he sees a burglar in the house. On November 13, 1961, an episode (Season 4, Episode 7 (Episode #117)) called "Knight Errant," starring Chuck Connors (1921-1992), appeared on The Rifleman (TV series from 1958 to 1963). Two of Lucas' oldest friends ask him to observe a chess match to prevent any cheating. One of the players, Colonel Charles Black, says, "I'm going to watch a chess game between you two gentlemen. The winner gets fired, the loser gets dead!" In this episode, Lucas plainly states to Don and Colonel Black that he doesn't know anything about the games of chess. However, in episode #59, called "Hero," Lucas and Micah are playing chess in Micah's office, and Lucas is even winning. On May 21, 1961, Lisa Lane (1938- ), appeared on What's My Line? (Season 12, Episode 38), and stumped the panel as a professional chess player and the reigning U.S. women's chess champion during the first game. What's My Line? was a TV series from 1950 to 1967. On October 9, 1962, an episode (Season 4, Episode 3) called "The Chess Game" appeared in "The Untouchables." The TV series lasted from 1959 to 1963. A blind fish and seafood wholesaler (and bootlegger), Ira Bauer (Richard Conte), plays chess as a way of keeping his mind sharp. He and Eliot Ness (Robert Stack) play a game of chess and the game ends in stalemate. The board with the fancy chess pieces was set up wrong. In 1964, a TV movie called Sach mat aired, with the theme of chess. (source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5789834/?ref_=kw_li_tt) On February 14, 1964, an episode (Season 5, Episode 20) called "From Agnes — With Love" was aired on the TV series The Twilight Zone. James Elwood (Wally Cox) mentions that the computer Mark 502-741, commonly known as Agne,s beat the world's chess champion, four games to five. On March 21, 1964, an episode (Season 3, Episode 26) called "Lobster Quadrille" for the TV series The Avengers (1961-1969) aired. In investigating the death of a colleague who has died in a fire, Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Mrs. Cathy Gale (played by Honor Blackman) find an ornately-carved chess piece in the dead man's possession. On November 10, 1964, an episode (Season 1, Episode 7) called "the Giuoco Piano Affair," starring Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, and Leo G. Carroll, appeared on The Man from U.N.C.L.E (TV series from 1964 to 1968). There is a party and a man (Norman Felton) is playing chess by himself. Ilya tries to make a move and the man knocks over the pieces and leaves. On December 16, 1964, an episode (Season 13, Episode 20) called "Chess Set" appeared on The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet (TV series from 1952 to 1966). Ozzie gets a large-scale chess set in the mail. He ordered a chess set, but the fine print neglected to state the size of the set. Ozzie discovers a neighborhood kid with a talent for chess. The two play chess. The boy then challenges Ozzie to a bet and Ozzie loses $50 playing chess with the boy. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkRPjNBvaJw) On December 18, 1964, an episode (Season 1, Episode 14) from Jonny Quest, called "Dragons of Ashida," was aired. Hadji and Jonny Quest play chess. The animated TV show Jonny Quest ran for one season from 1964 to 1965. On January 21, 1965, an episode (Season 1, Episode 19) from Jonny Quest, called "Attack of the Tree People," was aired. Dr Benton Quest was playing chess with Race Bannon, while Jonny Quest and Hadji played checkers. The chess game was being played before the boat catches fire. When the camera cuts back once, there are no pieces on the chess board. On September 12, 1965, an episode (Season 1, Episode 10) called "The Chess Player" aired in the TV series Jury Room, which lasted only one season and 12 episodes. On September 15, 1965, Lost in Space first aired on CBS. A photo poster appeared with the characters sitting or standing around a chess set. It included Guy Williams as Prof. John Robinson, Bob May as The Robot, June Lockhart as Maureen Robinson, Marta Kristen as Judy Robinson, Billy Mumy as Will Robinson, Angela Cartwright as Penny Robinson, and Don Matheson as IDAK Alpha 12. On September 29, 1965, an episode (Season 1, Episode 3) called "Island in the Sky" appeared on Lost in Space (TV series from 1965 to 1968). Jonathan Harris (Dr. Zachary Smith) plays chess with the robot. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlRXqu7Jx3U) On October 24, 1965, an episode (Season 6, Episode 7) of Mister Ed, called "TV or not TV," has Mister Ed answering a hard question regarding chess on a radio game show and ends up winning Wilbur a new color TV set. On December 9, 1965, an episode (Season 1, Episode 11) called "Sun Probe" on Thunderbirds (1965-1966) aired. This episode had some chess playing. Brains and Braman have moved into a separate part of the Tracy Village lounge to play chess. Jeff interrupts Braman's attempt at chess. On December 11, 1965, episode 13 from Season 1 of Get Smart (1965-1970), called "Aboard the Orient Express," was aired. Maxwell Smart, played by Don Adams (1923-2005), confused chess with checkers. On December 18, 1965, episode 14 from Season 1 of Get Smart (1965-1970), called "Weekend Vampire," was aired. Maxwell Smart plays chess with Agent 52 (Don Ross). On February 16, 1966, an episode (Season 1, Episode 11) called "A Riddle a Day Keeps the Riddler Away" on Batman (1966-1968) aired. There is some chess play in this episode. Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson play chess at the stately Wayne Manor. Bruce wins. The Riddler says he has reduced the king to a pawn in his plot to kill Batman. On February 19, 1966, an episode (Season 1, Episode 22) called "Smart the Assassin" appeared on Get Smart (TV series from 1965 to 1970). Maxwell Smart, played by Don Adams (1923-2005), is hypnotized to kill the Chief during their nightly game of chess at the Regency Club. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWHq9othRxM) On March 27, 1966, an episode ( Season 1, Episode 26) of The F.B.I. (1965-1974), called "The Defector," was aired. Dr. Gregory Holman (George Voskovec) is in Washington playing in a chess tournament. He is also an intelligence operative for an Eastern European country and may be ready to defect to the United States. However, he is killed before doing so. On August 13, 1966, an episode (Season 2, Episode 7) called "Works with Chess, Not with Life" appeared on Public Eye, a British television series (1965-1975). Star Trek (TV series from 1966 to 1969) ran from 1966 through 1969 on NBC with several episodes showing its version of three-dimensional chess. On September 15, 1966, in an episode (Season 1, Episode 2) on Star Trek, called "Charlie X," Kirk (William Shatner (1931- )) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy (1931-2015)) are playing three-dimensional chess. The young passenger Charlie Evans (Robert Walker) walks in and asks to play. After defeating Spock in an "illogical approach" to the game, Kirk turns it over to Charlie. Spock, playing with the White pieces, beats Charlie in just a few moves. When Charlie gets angry, Spock leaves and then Charlie uses his powers to melt the white chess pieces. On September 22, 1966, in an episode (Season 1, Episode 3) on Star Trek, called "Where No Man Has Gone Before," Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) play chess at the beginning of the show. They are playing in the briefing lounge when Spock announces to the captain that he's about to checkmate him on his next move. However, Kirk is preoccupied with awaiting the bridge's update on an unexplained Earth-vessel distress signal. The captain notes that Spock plays a very "irritating game of chess," to which Spock responds with "Irritating? Ah yes, one of your Earth emotions." Kirk then smiles and makes a move and checkmates Spock. This surprises Spock. "Certain you don't know what irritation is?" Kirk says wryly. On October 2, 1966, an episode (Season 2, Episode 1) called "Atlantic Inferno" on Thunderbirds (1965-1966) aired. There is a chess scene where Gordon plays chess with Brains. On October 12, 1966, an episode (Season 2, Episode 11) called "The Clock King's Crazy Crimes" on Batman (1966-1968) aired. There is a chess scene in this episode. Gordon calls Batman while Bruce Wayne and Dick are playing chess. Dick makes a move and puts Bruce in check. When Alfred says the Bat-phone is ringing, Dick makes a second move in a row, which is illegal. On November 6, 1966, a TV movie called "Alice Through the Looking Glass" aired. It starts out with a Staunton chess set in the living room. Alice (Judy Rolin) is transported to a magical world through a large looking glass with the help of a living chess pieces, the Red King (Robert Coote). Nanette Fabray played the White Queen, Ricardo Montalban as the White King, and Agnes Moorehead as the Red Queen. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLIw8COJ0Qg) On November 10, 1966, an episode (Season 1, Episode 10) on Star Trek, called "The Corbomite Maneuver," Spock compares a helpless situation that they are in to chess, suggesting that the USS Enterprise crew was checkmated and the game was over. However, a comment from Dr. McCoy about a bluff led Kirk to reject Spock's chess analogy and compared it to poker when he tried a bluff. On February 2, 1967, a Star Trek episode (Season 1, Episode 20) called "Court Martial" was aired. Kirk, being court martialed, opens a communications channel and tells Spock that Spock will be able to defeat his next commanding officer at chess. Spock plays a game of three-dimensional chess in the USS Enterprise briefing room. Dr. McCoy walks in and, irritated, calls Spock a cold-blooded person for playing chess while their captain's career is hanging in the balance during court martial proceedings. After thanking McCoy for the compliment, Spock adds that he had just won four games in a row against the computer (later, it was 5 games in a row). As Spock had programed the computer himself, he says the best he should have been able to attain was a draw. Spock detected programming errors in the computer's databanks because of faulty chess moves made by the computer. In the 1967, George Koltanowski (1903-2000) did a TV series entitled Koltanowski on Chess for KQED on PBS. It was a half hour segment devoted to chess. On March 29, 1967, an episode (Season 2, Episode 27) called "Casanova from Canarsie" from I Spy, was aired. Bill Cosby plays chess as Robert Culp looks on. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVmK7IXktMU) On September 29, 1967, an episode (Season 1, Episode 1) called "Arrival" featured live chess in a village on The Prisoner (TV series from 1967 to 1968), starring Patrick McGoohan (1928-2009). The Prisoner gets checkmated by the Admiral, but beats the General in the next episode. On October 20, 1967, an episode (Season 3, Episode 7) of The Wild Wild West (1965-1969) called, "The Night of the Hangman," was aired. Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) uses a chessboard to map out the crime scene and take some trouble to choose an appropriately symbolic chess piece for each participant. On November 24, 1967, an episode called "Checkmate" (Season 1, Episode 9) appeared on The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan (1928-2009), as Number 6. The Villagers are the chessmen and the players sit in elevated chairs calling out moves with megaphones playing living chess. The game ended in checkmate. The escape secret word was Rook to Queen Pawn 6, check. In the script, the working title of this episode was "The Queen Pawn." The chess problem found in the newspaper came from Leonard Barden, published in the London Evening Standard on January 9, 1967. In real life, Patrick McGoohan was a very keen chess player. On January 14, 1968, "A Game of Chess" was one of the episodes (Season 2, Episode 17) of Mission: Impossible (TV series from 1966 to 1973). Their target was an international chess grandmaster (Nicholas Groat). The GM is also planning to steal $1 million in gold bullion seized by a Soviet bloc country. The gold was originally sent by the USA to the underground movement in a Socialist country, but was seized by the Soviets. Rollin Hand (Martin Landau) poses as an amateur chess player (P. Anderson) with a hearing aid, helped by a computer that Barney Collier (Greg Morris) is running and transmitting the move to Hand. Cinnamon (Barbara Bain) wears a broach that sends the video back to the motel room to the computer. The computer program is unbeatable at chess (the show was 25 years ahead of its time for chess computers and cheating). The chess clocks were not set right and every game ended in checkmate. All the chess players smoked at the table. On February 23, 1968, a Star Trek episode (Season 2, Episode 22) called "By Any Other Name" was aired. Spock played a game of three-dimensional chess against Kelvan expedition leader Rojan (Warren Stevens). He observed, during their match, that Rojan's game was "off," suggesting that they have played before. Scotty's quarters are seen only in this episode. A wall plaque looks like part of a 3-D chess set. On January 3, 1969, a Star Trek episode (Season 3, Episode 14) called "Whom Gods Destroy" was aired. Kirk and his senior officers used a chess-based code as transporter clearance. The code phrase was "queen to queen's level 3." The response was "queen to king's level 1." On April 15, 1969, an episode (Season 2, Episode 25) called "The Great Chess Gambit," starring Robert Wagner, appeared on It Takes a Thief (TV series from 1968 to 1970). A "Black Box" failsafe device from a B-52 bomber has fallen into the hands of a chess player. Al Mundy (Robert Wagner) must play chess with the chess player in order to try to negotiate the purchase of the computer part. Al loses the chess match. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTM7_kBA5tk) On September 25, 1969, Season 5, Episode 2 of The Dean Martin Show (1965-1974) had David Janssen (1931-1980) giving a chess lesson. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohiYpXogtu0) On October 12, 1969, an episode (Season 2, Episode 4) called "Deadly Pawn" appeared on Land of the Giants (TV series from 1968 to 1970). The Earthlings are forced to compete in a life-and-death chess game with a Giant chess expert called Kronig (Alex Dreier). The little people find themselves bound to the chess pieces. Alexander Fitzhugh (Kurt Kasnar) asks Mark Wilson (Don Matheson), "You programmed a chess machine. Surely you must be a chess expert?" Mark replies, "Not really." Fitzhugh says, "Why not?" Mark replies, "Does using an adding machine make you an expert at math?" The victory for the little people means freedom; if Kronig wins, he turns them over to the Special Investigations Department (SID). Fitz tests a trap door when Kronig tells them the doors will be locked. If they refuse to play, the giant will turn them over right away. He gives them an Earth size chess game, table, and chairs for them to pick their best player. Dan Erickson (Don Marshall) tells the others he is better at checkers. Captain Steve Burton (Gary Conway) played for fun only but once wrote a book on it. Mark programmed a computer to play chess once but he reveals that it doesn't make him an expert. As Steve and Mark play to see which is better, Barry comments on their moves. Steve queries Barry Lockridge (Stefan Arngrim) and finds out the boy played All State Pre Teen Competition Chess Game and won. Mark tells a complaining Fitzhugh that Bobby Fischer was only 14 when he beat Reschesky for the US Championship. Barry takes over Steve's seat to play Mark. Val cheers the boy on, quietly. Barry seems able to beat Mark. Steve tells a worried Barry he will have to play him. Barry is nervous that if he loses, his friends will be turned over to the SID. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Veid665GsUA) On January 21, 1970, the first episode of Nanny and the Professor, called "Nanny Will Do," aired. The episode had a chess scene. Hal, the oldest of the Everett kids, pays chess with his father, Harold. In January 1970, an episode called "Anne Boleyn" on The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970-1971) aired on the BBC. It was part of a series of six television plays. The series was later aired in the United States on CBS in 1971. The series was rebroadcasted on PBS as part of its Masterpiece Theatre. This episode had a chess scene. Anne Boleyn's (Dorothy Tuten) brother, George Viscount Rochford (Jonathan Newth) moves some chessmen on a cloth roll up board. The board was set up wrong. In 1970, a TV movie called "The Cliff" aired. Tag (Chesea Brown) and Jimmy (Felton Perry) play chess at a hospital. In 1970, the British TV science fiction series UFO (1970-1973) was aired. The staff plays three-dimensional chess. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvYrKcJJL9Q) On January 27, 1970, a TV movie called "Carter's Army" aired as an ABC Movie of the Week. Lt. Edward B. Wallace (Robert Hooks) is playing chess with Private George Hayes (Moses Gunn) in a tent. The king and queen are on the wrong starting squares. Hayes makes a move and says "mate" when there is no mate. Wallace picks up a chess book and discovers the castling move, which Hayes never told him about. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GvKvfN8N1o) On February 3, 1970, a made for TV movie called "Along Came a Spider" aired. Dr. Martin Becker (Ed Nelson) says he is a member of the radical wing of the Berkeley Chess Club. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjPTW2vzRHA) On March 13, 1970, an episode (Season 5, Episode 24) called "The Merry Widow" on Hogan's Heroes aired. There was a chess scene with Col Hogan playing Col Klink. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5qvEovfupw) On March 7, 1971, an episode (Season 6, Episode 22) called "Hogan's Double Life" on Hogan's Heroes (1965-1971) aired. This episode has a chess scene. Hogan plays a chess game with Carter. He deliberately knocks a piece over, and leaves the table to retrieve it, as he does so, Newkirk takes his place at the table wearing a similar uniform. The change is unnoticed by Schultz who only manages to spot "Hogan" place his rook on a different square, laughingly declaring "Hogan" to be a cheat. Pruhst angrily rebukes Schultz and orders him to keep watching, before getting up to leave for Leiter's party. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3K3Uk79onY) In the summer of 1971, Bobby Fischer appeared on The Dick Cavett Show (TV series from 1968 to 1972). He also appeared on the show on December 21, 1972. On October 2, 1971, an episode (Season 1, Episode 3) called "The Chess Game" appeared on The Good Life (NBC TV series from 1971 to 1972), starring Larry Hagman (1931-2012) and Donna Mills (1940- ). Posing as the owner of the Dutton's estate, Albert Miller (Larry Hagman) tries to outshine an overbearing school chum at chess. On January 20, 1972, an episode (Season 1, Episode 17) called "Eye of the Storm" for the ABC TV series Longstreet (1971-1972) aired. Mike Longstreet (James Franciscus (1934-1991)) travels to a lonely roadside diner to meet the representative of a gang that stole a valuable jade chess set, in order to pay the ransom for its return. In February 1972, CBS's 60 Minutes did a segment of Bobby Fischer, interviewed by Mike Wallace (1918-2012). In July-August 1972, most of the TV networks covered the Fischer-Spassky world championship match. WNET/PBS (Channel 13) covered the match, which became their most watched program, with millions of viewers. The PBS coverage, produced by Mike Chase, was the first-ever live, real-time American TV coverage of a chess championship match. The PBS coverage has hosted by Shelby Lyman (1936- ) and Edmar Mednis (1937-2002). Lyman was paid only $10 per diem to cover the match. After Fischer returned to the United States, he appeared on a Bob Hope (1903-2003) television comedy series (October 5, 1972, with Mark Spitz) (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSWau3pTyIg ) and The Tonight Show (November 8, 1972) with Johnny Carson. On September 13, 1972, the first episode of Banacek (1972-1974), called "Let's Hear It for a Living Legend" was aired. The chess match they mention is the Fischer-Spassky world chess championship match, held in Iceland in 1972. Banacek (George Peppard (1928-1994)) is a gifted chess player throughout the series. His chauffer also plays chess. On September 22, 1972, Jerry Lewis (1926-2017) played chess with Sonny Bono (1935-1998) in one of the episodes (Season 3, Episode 2) on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (TV series from 1971 to 1974). Jerry appears as a chess champion whose annoying habits distract his opponent (Sonny). From 1972 to 1980, Florencio Campomanes (1927-2010) of the Philippines, who would later become president of FIDE, produced the only daily chess television in the world. It appeared nationwide in the Philippines. On November 5, 1972, "A Game of Chess" was one of the episodes (Season 8, Episode 8) in The F.B.I (TV series from 1965 to 1974), starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (1918-2014) as Inspector Erskine. Erskine poses as a blind chess master in order to infiltrate a spy ring. On January 8, 1973, an episode (Season 1, Episode 5) called "The Chess Game" appeared on The Black Arrow (TV series from 1972 to 1975) in the UK. In January 1973, the Bobby Darin Show debuted (1972-1973), starring Bobby Darin (1936-1973). He always had a chess set while on the air and sometimes explained tricky chess moves. He featured a chess problem every week on his show. He planned to sponsor a huge chess tournament, the First Annual Bobby Darrin Chess Classic, but died before the event took place. On March 4, 1973, "The Most Dangerous Match" was one of the episodes (Season 2, Episode 7) on NBC's Columbo (TV series from 1971 to 1978 on NBC), starring Peter Falk (1927-2011). A chess player, Emmett Clayton (Laurence Harvey) murders his Russian chess opponent, Tomlin Dudek (Jack Kruschen), before a big match. It had an interesting chess plot, but the worst error was allowing the grandmaster to fall for a fool's mate and getting beat in a few moves because he was rattled. On December 13, 1973, an episode (Season 2, Episode 13) called "Winterkill" on The Streets of San Francisco (1972-1977) aired. The episode had a chess scene. (source: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4aj8bn) In late 1973, a TV movie "Frankenstein: The True Story" was first aired on NBC. It also aired on December 27, 1978. Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Leonard Whiting) plays chess with his wife, Elizabeth Fanshawe (Nicola Pagett) in their stateroom on their sea voyage to America. Dr. Polidori (James Mason) comes into the room and makes a move that leads to checkmate. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yx2GTpW-iU) On January 15, 1974, the first episode of Happy Days, called "All the Way," aired on TV. Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) plays chess with his Mary Lou Milligan (Kathy O'Dare). (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlwBnWWhiDY) On September 29, 1974, an episode (Season 1, Episode 3) called "Chess Set" aired in the TV series Salty (1974- ). On November 24, 1974, an episode (Season 5, Episode 5) called "The Concrete Jungle Caper" on McCloud (1970-1977) aired. Inmates are playing chess in the prison library. On December 7, 1974, an episode (Season 3, Episode 13) called "Jerry Robinson Crusoe" on The Bob Newhart Show (1972-1978) aired. Bob plays chess with Jerry. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBydrUQUf18) On December 14, 1974, an episode (Season 5, Episode 14) called "Mike's Friend" appeared on All in the Family (TV series from 1971 to 1979). Mike's (Rob Reiner) college friend, Stuart Henderson (Greg Mullavey), comes over to the house to spend the evening playing chess with him. Stuart checkmates Mike 3 times in a row and calls him the worst player in chess. In the UK, chess appeared on TV from 1975, the time of the first Karpov-Korchnoi world championship match, until 1995, the time of the Kasparov-Anand match. After 1995, British television producers lost interest in chess. They did not even cover the 2000 Kasparov-Kramnik world championship match, held in London a few miles away from BBC headquarters. On February 4, 1975, a TV movie called "Death Be Not Proud" aired. Johnny Gunther (Robby Benson) plays chess with his girlfriend Mary Wilson (Wendy Phillips). (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SicWF7eKf0) On September 14, 1975, an episode (Season 5, Episode 1) called "Forgotten Lady" on Columbo (1971-2003) aired. A younger Grace Willis (Janet Leigh) is playing chess to the sound of "Glow Little Glow Worm." On November 14, 1975, an episode (Season 2, Episode 9) called "Chicken Little is a Little Chicken," Jim Rockford (James Garner (1928-2014)) gets checkmated by his father, Rocky Rockford (Noah Berry (1913-1994)), while Angel (Stuart Margolin (1940- )) tries to explain the end of the game in his lingo. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88m2eQabgtQ) The Master Game series ran on BBC2 from 1976 to 1982. It was presented by Jeremy James, Leonard Barden, and Bill Hartston. The programs were cheap to make and got excellent viewing figures. Many of the episodes can be found on YouTube. The 1983 series was never shown in England, but did appear on German TV. On November 12, 1976, a TV movie called "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" aired. The physician, Dr. Ernie Gunther (Ralph Bellamy) comes over every month to play chess with Tod Lubitsch (John Travolta). (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQAh4MNbM5I) On March 6, 1977, an episode (Season 1, Episode 5) called "The Disappearing Floor" on The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977-1979) aired. There is a chess scene. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wGnR4W5AnM) On May 22, 1977, an episode (Season 6, Episode 3) called "The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case" on Columbo (1971-2003) aired. Mike Lally is the chess player at the Sigma Society, a Mensa-like club, who plays chess with Mr. Wagner (George Sperdakos). On November 26, 1977, an episode (Season 15, Episode 13) called "The Sun Makers" aired on the Doctor Who (1963-1989) British TV series. The robot K9 beats Doctor Who in chess. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSoC1VUdavE) On January 23, 1978, a TV movie called "The Defection of Simas Kudirka" aired. Simas Kudirka (Alan Arkin) plays chess with Captain Popov (Donald Pleasence) in the radio room. A KGB agent comes in and suggests a chess move to Kudirka. Kurdirka obeys and the KGB agent leaves. The Captain says, "Between you and me Simas, you can't trust the KGB for anything, even chess." Then the captain makes his next move, which is checkmate. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvXHjKU3-6k) On September 19, 1978, an episode (Season 3, Episode 2) called "Good Old Reliable Janet" from Three's Company (1976-1984) aired. Jack and Janet played chess on the couch. The scene only showed the last two moves. Chrissy asked Jack if Janet had won. Janet won. On January 20, 1979, an episode (Season 2, Episode 16) called "Pressure Point" on CHiPs (1977-193) aired. This episode had a chess scene. On October 15, 1979, a TV movie called "The Flame Is Love" aired. Two men are playing chess in a cafe. The king and queen are set up wrong on one side. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP8ehSQh96E) On December 7, 1979, an episode (Season 3, Episode 9) called "The Snare" appeared on The Incredible Hulk (TV series from 1978 to 1982). Dr. David Banner (Bill Bixby (1934-1993)) is invited by a millionaire, Michael Sutton (Bradford Dillman), to play a game of chess on his private island after Banner beats Sutton in a game of chess while waiting at an airport. They play at the millionaire's home and it is tied 2-2. They start the next game, but Banner's wine is drugged and he passes out on the chess table. The man turns out to be a hunter, and David is the prey. The episode was a variation on the short story "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell. On January 22, 1980, a TV movie called "Death Penalty" aired. Carlos Riviera (David Labiosa) plays chess with Woody (Ted Ross). Both are next to each other and both have chess sets in their cells. The chess board is set up wrong on both sets (light colored square needs to be on the right hand side). (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXPZruXIVAs) On March 2, 1980, a made for TV movie called "The Aliens Are Coming" aired. A chessboard with some chess position sits on a night stand in the Dr. Scott Dryden's (Tom Mason) bedroom. The movie was meant to be a pilot for a TV series, which never materialized. On March 4, 1980, a TV movie called "Bogie" aired. In the opening scene, Humphrey Bogart (Kevin O'Connor) is playing chess. His chess partner is a Harvard professor (Robert Karnes). On November 5, 1980, the TV movie "Alcatraz: the Whole Shocking Story" aired. The second part of this TV mini-series has Joe Clarence Carnes (Michael Beck) makes chess pieces out of bread slices and plays chess with the Birdman of Alcatraz, Robert Stroud (Art Carney), who is in the cell next to him and gives him a chess book to read. Later, Joe plays chess with Bumpy Johnson (John Amos). Joe makes a move with his knight and says checkmate, when there is no mate (Bumpy's queen could have taken the knight). A new game is started, but Black moves first, which is illegal. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUKp8ApMZrE) On November 28, 1980, a TV movie called "The Babysitter" aired. Dr. Lindqvist (John Hauseman (1902-1988)) plays chess with Scotty (David Wallace). The board is set up wrong. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WQgyelEuyw) On January 18, 1982, a TV movie called "Fantasies" aired. Roy Hansen (Stuart Damon) plays chess in the park and checkmates an opponent with the Blackburne Shilling Gambit. On February 13, 1982, an episode (Season 5, Episode 16) called "The Challenge/A Genie Named Joe," on Fantasy Island (1977-1984) aired. Roarke (Ricardo Montalban (1920-2009) beats Douglas Picard (Vic Morrow (1929-1982)) in a life-size chess game. On May 23, 1982, a TV movie called "Coming Out of the Ice" was aired. Vicotr Herbert (John Saage) and Red (Willie Nelson) play chess. Chess is also played in a cafe. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frWlbFHv6IQ) On December 18, 1982, the first episode of four episodes of the TV mini-series "Framed" aired. Eddie Meyers (Timothy Dalton) teaches chess to Sergeant Larry Jackson (David Morrissey). Eddie demonstrates to Larry a poor way on how to checkmate with rook and king against king and gives bad advice (he overlooks an easier way to mate the enemy king). (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA1haCPDohY) On February 16, 1983, an episode (Season 1, Episode 17) called "French Lesson" from Family Ties (1982-1989) aired. Chess is being played. Alex and Steven play chess. Alex claims a record of 138-0 against his father. Steven claims it is 138-0-1. The tie supposedly happened on the day when Alex had his appendix removed. While Alex is away, Steven reads the book "Chess for Idiots" to help him analyze the game. Steven wins unexpectedly, but then knocks the board over before anyone can see it (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Uu5G_HTEY) In 1983, a TV series called Chessgame appeared in the UK. It was a drama series about the activities of British counter-intelligence agents. The show lasted 6 episodes. On October 3, 1983, an episode (Season 12, Episode 2) called "Alice in Wonderland" on PBS's Great Performances (1971- ) aired. This was originally a 1982 Broadway stage performance. Richard Burton (1925-1984) played the White Knight. Colleen Dewhurst played the Red Queen, who talked to Alice (Kate Burton). Maureen Stapleton played the White Queen. There were several chess references. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdE5TSkStus) On October 22, 1983, an episode (Season 7, Episode 3) called "Nurses Night Out" for Fantasy Island (1977-1984) aired. In one scene, they are talking chess. On January 17, 1984, A Talent for Murder TV movie was aired. It contains a scene of chess-playing. On March 5, 1984, an episode (Season 1, Episode 17) called "The Artful Dodger" from Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983-1987) starts out with a chess scene. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-sQ4QjsBts) On May 19, 1984, an episode (Season 7, Episode 2) called "The Best Chess Player in the World" appeared on Tales of the Unexpected (UK TV series from 1979 to 1988). G. B. Shaw (played by Michael Jayston) is a gifted chess player, but he tells his opponent over a chess game, that he is in fact the greatest chess player in the world. To prove it he explains how he planned the perfect murder, after discovering his wife was unfaithful. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeRZnlDgAgE) On November 22, 1984, an episode (Season3, Episode 10) called "Lost Weekend" aired on Family Ties. Alex (Michael J. Fox) throws a chess game against his father, Steven (Michael Gross), in a minute as an excuse to run off to a potential girlfriend. (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXikdceofbc) On November 27, 1984, an episode (Season 3, Episode 8) called "Puzzled Steele" appeared on Remington Steele (TV series from 1982 to 1987), starring Pierce Brosnan (1953- ). A game of chess was played. The Cosby Show (1984-1992) appeared with many chess references. In an episode (Season 1, Episode 8) that aired on November 8, 1984, called "Play it Again, Vanessa," Dr. Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable (Bill Cosby) and Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), his son, are playing chess with a chess clock. However, Theo never starts the clock to start his turn. He just moves and stops the clock which rings a bell. His son beats him twice in chess. Later, Cliff wins 4 games in a row. Bill Cosby appeared on the cover of Chess Life with a chess set in the living room of the TV show. The board was set up wrong (white corner square on the left). In December 1984, a TV movie called "Forbidden" aired. Ruth Friedlander (Irene Worth) and her husband used to play chess. Fritz Friedlander (Jurgen Prochnow) plays chess by himself. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCV3FeMloBM) On February 4, 1985, a TV movie called "The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission" aired. Colonel Schmidt (Crispin De Nys) and General Sepp Dietrich (Morgan Sheppard) play chess on board a train moving through occupied France. The general checkmates the colonel. On May 39, 1985, a TV movie called "Arch of Triumph" aired. Dr Ravic (Anthony Hopkins) and his friend Boris Marozov (Frank Finlay) play chess. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCt64_5HLfE) On October 6, 1985, an episode (Season 1, Episode 2) called "The Main Attraction" from Amazing Stories (1985-1987) aired on NBC. Shirley (Lisa Jane Persky) wants to be accepted by the "in crowd" at her high school. She tries to get close to the football hero, but she is removed, chair and all, near the members of the chess club. The nerdy chess club members are at and around two chessboards, but even they pack up and move away from Shirley. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSZvg23jHZE) On December 9, 1985, a two-part made-for-TV film adaptation called "Alice in Wonderland" aired. The second part of the film opens with Alice (Natalie Gregory) at home trapped behind the living-room mirror and invisible to her parents. The Jabberwocky scares Alice and she wishes it away, it disappears as she hides behind the chessboard, knocking it over. She sees that she has knocked all the pieces onto the floor and begins placing them back on the table, but realizes they are all alive, but can't hear her. The White Queen (Carol channing), White King (Harvey Korman), The Red King (Patrick Culliton) and the Red Queen (Ann Gillian) decide that Alice's lifting them up was a "Tornado". When Alice meets The Red Queen once more, she is now the same size as her. She tells her that she is to take the place of one of the pawns of The White Queen in a giant game of chess. Alice is to play a pawn, and finds herself now on the second square. The Red Queen tells her that she must reach the eighth square to become a queen, and only when she becomes a queen may she go home. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4BJPnAemUE and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfXIp760OM0) In 1986, a made-for-TV mini series called If Tomorrow Comes appeared. It was based on a crime fiction novel by Sidney Sheldon (1917-2007). It had several chess references about grandmasters at an international tournament. On January 30, 1986, an episode (Season 4, Episode 20) called "Checkmate" appeared on Family Ties (TV series from 1982 to 1989). Alex (Michael J. Fox), the Leland Chess Club champion, is competing in a chess match with a Russian master named Ivan Rozmirovich. In 1986, the Karpov-Kasparov world championship match was shown on 120 public TV stations, hosted by Shelby Lyman. On February 23, 1986, an episode (Season 2, Episode 17) called "One Good Bid Deserves a Murder" appeared on Murder, She Wrote (TV series from 1984 to 1996), starring Angela Lansbury (1925- ). The plot centers on a diary found in a secret compartment of a chess set. On March 20, 1986, an episode (Season 6, Episode 19) called "Who Is Don Luis Higgins…and Why Is He Doing These Terrible Things to Me?" appeared on Magnum, P.I. (TV series from 1980 to 1988) where a man claiming to be Higgins' half-brother shows up to play in a Hawaii chess tournament. On April 7, 1986, a TV movie called "Annihilator" aired. A chess game is played between Angela Taylor (Catherine Stewart) and her boyfriend, Robert Armour (Mark Chapman). This TV series pilot was not picked up by the network. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsc4uBSNFtk) On April 30, 1986, an episode (Season 1, Episode 21) called "A Prisoner of Conscience" appeared on MacGyver (TV series from 1985 to 1992), where Marvin Kaplan (1927- ) plays a chess master. On May 7, 1986, a TV movie called "The Blue Lightning" aired on CBS Movie of the Week. Ninian (Robert Coleby) and Doctor William Giles (John Meillon) play chess. On July 16, 1986, an episode called "The Abbey Grange" on The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1986-1988) aired on British TV. Sherlock Holmes is called to the Southern Cross Steam Navigation Company in London where he sees a chessboard on the other side of the room. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLdXvQSlUVk) On July 27, 1986, a TV movie called "C.A.T. Squad" aired on NBC. The movie starts out with Carlos (Eddie Velez) playing chess on his magnetic pocket chess set while riding the subway. The position is illegal (two bishops on the same colored square) and there are no pawns. Also, both kings are in check at the same time. Carlos later plays chess with Bower. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnB8L5u5QwQ) On December 20, 1986, a TV movie called "Christmas Snow" aired. Harry Bannerman (Don Mackay), the local bar owner, plays chess with Old Man Snyder (Sid Caesar (1922-2014)). (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUUMJIwm5_U) In 1987, a TV drama called The Mighty Pawns appeared on TV. Inner city kids were given new direction when they joined the school chess team. Inspired by a special teacher, kids from an inner-city junior-high school form a winning chess team. On January 22, 1987, an episode (Season 5, Episode 15) called "Spellbound" on Cheers (1982-1993) aired. Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) loses at chess. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv6bzeoS_dk) Sam Malone (Ted Danson) is also a chess player. On January 25, 1987, a British TV movie, called "Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: At Bertram's Hotel" aired. Chess is being played in a British men's club room. On January 26, 1987, the TV movie "The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory" was aired. A figurine chess set appears on the long table in the main room when Santa Anna arrives. On April 12, 1987, the TV movie "Escape from Sobibor" aired. Leon Feldhemler (Alan Arkin (1934- )) plays Alexander "Sasha" Pechersky (Rutger Hauer) in chess. Leon also plays Abraham Weiss (Zlatan Fazlagic) a game of chess. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4R53qvwbag) On October 11, 1987, a 7-part BBC miniseries called "Fortunes of War" first aired. In episode one, two men play chess outdoors in as park in Bucharest, Romania, just past the gazebo. The man with the white hat is playing White, and the man with the black hat is playing Black. In another scene that follows quickly, a man dressed in white is setting up a chess position. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZu4acN-U3k) On November 1, 1987, a made-for-TV movie called "Echoes in the Darkness" aired on CBS. Bill Bradford (Peter Coyote) plays chess with Vince Valaiyis (Zeljko Ivanek). He also plays chess with a black inmate named Proctor Nowell (Eugene Clark). On November 3, 1988, an episode (Season 2, Episode 8) called "Fred Plays Chess with Yassir Arafat," from the TV series D.C. Follies (1987-1989). There is an Elvis edition of chess and Fred learns that playing chess with Arafat is a no win situation. On February 11, 1989, an episode (Season 3, Episode 56) called "Room 2426" from The New Twilight Zone was aired. Josef (Brent Carver) and Martin Decker (Dean Stockwell) try to keep their sanity by playing virtual chess. On March 27, 1989, an episode (Season 1, Episode 3) called "Blind Chess" appeared on B.L. Stryker (TV series from 1989 to 1990), starring Burt Reynolds (1936- ). Harold Laiken III (Scott Plank) compares private investigations to double blind chess. In 1989, a documentary appeared on TV called American Gambit, featuring Kasparov giving a simultaneous exhibition. On December 16, 1989, the TV movie "Age-Old Friends" aired. Cooper (Hume Cronyn) and Aylott (Vincent Gardenia) are residents of a retirement home who stimulate their minds by playing chess. The pieces are set up wrong in one scene with the king and queen reversed. On January 21, 1990, the BBC first aired the series called "The Man from the Pru." It is the story of a famous real-life murder case and the story of William Herbert Wallace (1878-1933), whose favorite recreational activity was chess. On February 18, 1990, the TV movie "The Death of the Incredible Hulk" aired on NBC. Dr. Ronald Pratt (Philip Sterling) plays chess with Dr. David Banner (Bill Bixby (1934-1993)). (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDghJt3XkuI) On February 22, 1990, an episode (Season 8, Episode 19) called "Indoor Fun with Sammy and Robby" appeared on Cheers (TV series from 1982 to 1993). Robin Colcord (Roger Rees) challenges Sam Malone (Ted Danson) to play a game of chess for a week's salary. Sam accepts despite not knowing how to play chess. However, Sam gets help from some transmitting equipment with Norm and Pete sitting in front of a computer with a strong chess engine running. In 1990, The Chess Show began appearing on public television in Portland, Oregon. It was on the air from 1990 to 1998. Players called in to make the chess moves. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKgKQnqgNX8) On August 9, 1990, an episode (Season 1, Episode 5) called "Russian Flu" appeared on Northern Exposure. A game of chess was being played and one of the spectators said it was more fun watching slush melt than watching chess. On November 9, 1990, an episode (Season 2, Episode 9) called "Dedicated to the One I Love" for Family Matters (1989-1997) aired. Steve Urkel (Jaleel White) tells Laura Winslow (Kellie Williams) that he introduced Susie (Caryn Ward) to the president of the chess club with the belief that Laura is interested in him. On November 24, 1990, a TV movie called "Death Has a Bad Reputation" aired. A young operative named Walter Jerome is working at the British embassy in Rome. He plays chess on a home chess computer. The kings and queens are set up on the wrong starting square. On December 15, 1990, and episode (Season 2, Episode 18) called "Masked Ball" on Twin Peaks (1990-1991) was aired. Cooper inspects a letter from Windom Earle. It's another chess move and tape. Cooper listens to the tape and inspects a chess board. Windom says that the king must die. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_PVMg3DPBA) On January 6, 1991, an episode (Season 3, Episode 15) called "The Space Eaters" on Monsters (1988-1990) aired. Two old gentlemanly friends are playing a game of chess, when a sinister telepathic alien invader shaped like a giant tentacled eyeball arrives to eat their brains. On January 20, 1991, a TV movie called "Bejewelled" aired. A Staunton chess set and board appears on a table with the queens and kings on the wrong squares. One of the jewels looks like a chess knight. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRYWkyaM3jg) On February 2, 1991, an episode (Season 6, Episode 16) of The Golden Girls called "There Goes the Bride: Part 1"featured a game of chess. Blanche (Rue McClanahan) and Sophia (Estelle Getty) are playing chess in the kitchen. On February 11, 1991, a TV movie called "Deadly Intentions…Again?" aired on Lifetimes Movie Network. Dr. Charles Raynor (Harry Hamlin) plays chess with his step-daughter, Stacey (Fairuza Balk). (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLXrOlPwK8A) On February 24, 1991, "And the Sea Will Tell" appeared on TV as a two-part miniseries. Mac Graham (James Brolin) plays chess with Buck (Hart Bochner). Checkmate was said, but there was no checkmate at the end of the game. Also, the film shows White moving twice. In the book, Jennifer also played chess and beat Mac in their first game. On March 26, 1991, an episode (Season 18, Episode 21) on computer chess called "Chip vs. the Chessmaster" appeared on NOVA. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t9r2ahMO7o) On May 4, 1991, an episode (Season 6, Episode 26) of The Golden Girls called "Henny Penny — Straight, No Chaser" featured a game of chess. A chess move came by letter from Serafina Gambrotsi. On May 6, 1991, an episode (Season 1, Episode 25) called "Working It Out" on The Fresh Price of Bel-Air (1990-1996) aired. There is a scene of chess playing. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoduQLjcduo) Will Smith often played chess on the set when not doing a scene. On May 12, 1991, an episode (Season 1, Episode 3) called "All the King's Horses" on Monkey House (1991- ) aired on Showtime cable TV. A Latin American revolutionary decides to play a game of chess with real human lives on the line. The floor tiles are of black and white tiles make up a 64-square giant chessboard. A game of Living Chess is played. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXCrGk_OWqo) On November 20, 1991 an episode (Season 3, Episode 9) called "The Nose Job" appeared on Seinfeld. There is a dream sequence in which Jerry's brain and penis play a game of chess to decide whether he should dump his girlfriend or not. (note: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WyojQFJY1w) In 1991, an episode (Season 3, Episode 7) called "Check Your Mate" appeared on Saved by the Bell (TV series from 1989 to 1993), where Screech Powers (Dustin Diamond) plays in a chess championship. Screech is the undefeated chess champion of Bayside and he has to play against Valley for the chess championship. Zack and Slater bet $300 that Screech would win, but Screech gets distracted when one of the attractive Valley girls steals his lucky beret before the match. In November 1991, an episode (Season 5, Episode 2) called "Antonia and Jane" on Screenplay (1986-1993) aired. Jane Harman (Imelda Staunton) plays chess in bed with Howard Nash (Bill Nighy). On January 5, 1992, an episode (Season 4, Episode 1) called "The ABC Murders" on Agatha Chrisite's Poirot (1989-2013) aired on British TV. Alexander Bonaparte Cuff (Donald Sumpter) is a lover of chess. Hercule Poirot (David Suchet) discuss a murder case over the chessboard with his friend , Captain Hastings (Hugh Frazier). On January 25, 1992, a TV movie called "The Cloning of Joanna May" aired. Philip the butler (Peter Guiness) plays chess with Carl May (Brian Cox). On February 25, 1992, an episode (Season 1, Episode 2) called "The Bet" was aired in the British TV series Men Behaving Badly. Gary and Demot play a game of chess, where the winner will get two tickets to Carmen. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFujVYmLIxs) On October 8, 1992, an episode (Season 2, Episode 2) called "Culture" from the British TV sitcom Bottom (1991-1995) aired After cleaning up, they try to play with Richie's antique chess set that his Great Aunt Dorothy left him. Richie puts on a smoking jacket, which is actually his Mac, turned inside out. Richie tells Eddie that the chess set is the one that Wellington played with on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo. Here, it is made clear that Eddie has been stealing the valuable ivory chess pieces and selling them. Because there's only five pieces left, they have to play chess with different objects as the missing pieces such as frozen prawns (in place of pawns), a potted cactus, a tomato ketchup bottle, a large Spider-Man figurine and a toy skeleton. They also create cocktails using Pernod, Ouzo, marmalade and salt as ingredients, naming their creation the Esther Rantzen, as it "Pulls your gums over your teeth". Just as they are about to start playing, Richie tells Eddie he doesn't know the rules of chess. The episode then cuts to a few hours later; it is now 5 o'clock in the morning and Eddie has been up since 10 o'clock last night telling Richie the rules of chess 124 times. They have been through the Ouzo, the Pernod, the Old Spice and all three litres of the Industrial Strength Floor cleaner. By now Eddie's nerves are frayed and furiously forces Richie to begin the game. Richie, having learned nothing over the previous seven hours, acts out a war situation with his pieces, destroying half of them in the process and Eddie, realizing that Richie still doesn't have a clue about the rules, moves his Queen around the board several times in one go to confuse Richie, and then drags Richie's pieces over to his side, then declares checkmate. Richie retaliates with a punch and they have a massive fight, in which Richie gets his feet crushed with a table, has a chair broken over his head and his head slammed in the fridge, but not before ramming the spike of an umbrella into Eddie's groin. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvBrU1Cofms) On January 6, 1993, an episode (Season 4, Episode 14) called "the Movie" from Seinfeld (1989-1998) aired. CheckMate is a film at the center of the plot. Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer plan to see a screening of CheckMate, but keep missing each other at two different theaters. On January 13, 1993, an episode (Season 7, Episode 2) called "The Day of the Devil" on Inspector Morse (1987-2000) aired on British TV. The opening scene features a pocket peg set in front of a guard that has been knocked out. The criminal inmate makes a move on the board and throws away a white piece. On February 21, 1993, an episode (Season5, Episode 6) called "The Chocolate Box" on Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989-2013) aired. François (Preston Lockwood) plays chess with a lady friend at an outdoor cafe. On March 20, 1993, a made-for-HBO TV movie called "Barbarians at the Gate" aired. Ed Herrigan (Matt Clark) and Peter Cohen (Peter Riegert) play chess. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6P0M-Wp5L8) On August 28, 1993, an episode (Season 6, Episode 5) called "The Magic Voyage of Sinbad" aired on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988-1999). Joel Hodgson, along with Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo, introduced the Rat Pack Chess Set. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2uBV4KsYPk) In September-October 1993, the BBC had 60 hours of chess on television during the Kasparov-Short world championship match in London. On September 28, 1993, the first episode of Acapulco H.E.A.T., called "Code Name: Checkmate" aired. The HEAT guards a former KGB agent and chess master named Andre Sokol (James Booth) attending a chess match. One of the HEAT members is Ashley Connington (Catherine Oxenberg), who happens to be a woman grandmaster. A grandmaster chess tournament takes place in Caracas and it seems a few chessplayers are cheating by wearing an earpeace and getting the moves from a supercomputer. No one is keeping score in this event, which wouldn't happen in real life. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G26oMPPah0Y) On January 17, 1994, a TV movie called "Confessions: Two Faces of Evil" aired. Billy Mothershed (Jason Bateman) plays chess in a dorm room with his girlfriend Lisa Darby (Ari Meyer). He also plays chess with his father when he was back in Chicago. Billy says checkmate in a game with his dad when there was no checkmate. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNVQFMbIUQs) On April 1, 1994, an episode (Season 1, Episode 2) called "Dead Water" on Alleyn Mysteries (1990-1994) aired on British TV. Emily Pride (Margaret Tyzack) plays chess with Dulcie Cruickshank (Mona Bruce). (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eInxshZxRNU) On May 6, 1994, the TV movie "Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die" aired. James Avery (1945-2013) plays a chess expert on a Hawaiian Island. On May 10, 1994, "A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle" aired on NBC TV. Bill McKenzie (Hal Holbrook (1925- )) fills in for Perry Mason at an event in which one of the guests is a chess master named Daniel Kingman (James Stephens) whom McKenzie knows. McKenzie plays a game of chess with Kingman when they first meet (a King's Gambit Accepted). An interviewer (Robin Leach) forces the chess player to be on his show when he refused. When the interviewer is later found dead, the chess master is arrested and McKenzie defends him. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAY91KIOa1k) On February 18, 1995, a TV movie called "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" aired. Two middle-age men are playing chess on the sidewalk outside a building. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQUrAh7GRqo) On April 12, 1995, a made for TV movie called "The Android Affair" aired. The android, William (Griffin Dunne), plays chess. On April 30, 1995, a TV mini-series called "Buffalo Girls" aired. Chess is being played in the all male Pall Mall Club in London. A chess set is in front of Lord Windhouvern (Peter Birch) who backs Calamity Jane (Anjelica Huston). (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NkYt4qE2qU) On July 23, 1995, an episode (Season 1, Episode 18) called "I, Robot" from The Outer Limits (1995-2002) aired. It starts out with a chess scene. Thurman Cutler (Leonard Nimoy) is a retired lawyer who plays chess in the park. Cutler wishes chess was not so boring. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcZ3RHTXIDo) On August 20, 1995, "Amanda and the Alien" appeared on Showtime cable TV. Two of the regulars at a Haight-Ashbury cafe play chess in one of the booths. The chess set in the San Francisco cafe had the kings and queens on the wrong squares. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpGv8Xh6zh4) On September 20, 1995, an episode (Season 1, Episode 2) called "Chess Moves" appeared on Central Park West (TV series from 1995 to 1996). On September 25, 1995, an episode (Season 3, Episode 3) called "Dope Diamond" on The Nanny (1993-199) aired. There is a chess scene with the show starting out with Maxwell Sheffield playing chess with his son Brighton. On October 31, 1995, an episode (Season 1, Episode 13) called "Goodnight Mr. Bean" from Mr. Bean was aired on ITV. He tries to fall asleep by watching a televised chess match. He is nearly asleep when the television channel cuts to a Bodyform advert, via a star wipe, featuring loud rock music. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BWjIkG6x8U) On November 19, 1995, the first episode of the 4-hour TV mini-series "Dead by Sunset" aired on Lifetime Movies Network. There are several chess scenes. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HENM-cs1eM) On January 20, 1996, an episode (Season 21, Episode 11) of Saturday Night Live aired. It featured a sketch of the Spartan Cheerleaders (Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri) at a chess tournament. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WifF0kZ0zp4) On February 18, 1996, an episode (Season 10, Episode 19) called "Spring Break" on Married with Children (1987-1997) aired. This episode had a chess scene with Al Bundy playing chess. He tries to cheat in chess by taking a piece of the chessboard, but loses anyway. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9w7OyJypa0) On March 26, 1996, an episode (Season 3, Episode 18) called "Chess Pains" appeared on Frasier (TV series from 1993 to 2004). Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) buys an elaborate antique chess set, but he can't beat his father, Martin Crane. In 1996, a documentary called Chess Kids appeared on 125 PBS stations. It was about the World Youth Championship, held in Wisconsin in 1990. On October 31, 1996, an episode (Season 6, Episode 4) called "Dumb Witness" on Agatha Christie's Poirot aired. Aleis (tobias Saunders) teaches his sister, Katya (Layla Harrison) how to move a knight on a chessboard. On November 30, 1996, Season 2, Episode 10 of the TV series Life with Louie, called "The Masked Chess Boy," aired. On February 2, 1997, a TV movie called "Breach of Faith: A Family of Cops II" aired. Inspector Fine (Charles Bronson) is at a park where there are chess players playing blitz chess. In the scene there are illegal chess moves and the king and queen are on the wrong starting square. On February 2, 1997, a TV movie called "Breaking the Code" was aired on BBC. It is a biography of English mathematician Alan Turing, who was a chess player. There are a few scenes with a chess set in the background. The place Turing (Derek Jacobi) works is referred to as the golf club and chess society. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S23yie-779k) On April 17, 1998, an episode (Season 2, Episode 9) called "The Chess Game" appeared on Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction (TV series from 1997 to 2002). Does a spirit show up to play chess? On May 17, 1998, an episode (Season 5, Episode 20) called "The End" appeared on The X-files (TV series from 1993 to 2002). During a chess tournament, a young boy named Gibson Praise becomes the center of an investigation concerning aliens. Mulder and Scully investigate the assassination of a chess grandmaster. On November 1, 1998, a TV movie "David and Lisa" aired. David (Lukas Haas) plays chess with a black patient. The king and queen are on the wrong starting squares. A girl patient pulls up a chair to watch the game. Lisa walks over, picks up a black rook and drops it on the girl watching the chess game. The black explodes and knocks over all the chess pieces and pounds the table. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlJrAqV75-M) On December 15, 1998, an episode (Season 3, Episode 12) called "Monkey Business" from Spin City (1996-2002) was aired. Bobo the chimpanzee plays chess against Mike Flaherty (Michael J. Fox). In 1998, a British TV movie, Alice Through the Looking Glass, was made. It started out with an animated chess board and chess pieces. A wooden chess board on the other side of the mirror with chess pieces knocked on the ground was picked up by an adult Alice (Kate Beckinsale). The Knight was Ian Holm. The Red Queen was Stan Phillips. The Red King was Michael Mednin. The White Queen was Penelope Wilson. The White King was Geoffrey Palmer. ) It appeared on American TV on March 28, 2005. (source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167758/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGM7aiQkAAI) On February 28, 1999, a TV movie called "Alice in Wonderland" aired. Christopher Lloyd played the White Knight. John Owens played the Red Bishop. Christopher Greet played the White Rook. Gerard Naprous played the Red Knight. An early scene shows two old men playing chess with red and white pieces at an outdoor gathering. In June 1999, the TV game show Jeopardy had an entire category devoted to chess called Chess Mania. In May 2000, Jeopardy had another category devoted to chess called Chess Nuts. On October 6, 1999, an episode a TV movie called "As Time Runs Out aired. There is a chess scene. On November 24, 1999, an episode (Season 4, Episode 9) called "The Thanksgiving Show" from Spin City (1996-2002) aired. Deidre and Carter play a game of strip chess to see who is smarter. On April 25, 2000, a TV movie called "The Expendables" aired. Two Cubans can be seen playing chess in the park. On June 25, 2000, and episode (Season 5, Episode 4) called "Comings and Goings" on Arli$$ was aired. Kirby suggests Stanley have sex with an ugly woman as a "slumpbuster," after he suffers numerous setbacks in his chess game. On January 21, 2001, a TV movie called "Crossfire Trail," with Tom Selleck, aired on TNT. Rock Mullaney (David O'Hara) and Joe Gill (Wilford Brimley) play chess. The position is illegal as two bishops are on the same color. (source: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x26x23x) On May 3, 2001, an episode (Season 7, Episode 21) called "The One with the Vows" appeared on Friends. Joey and Phoebe seem to be engaged in a blitz chess game, each moving pieces and hitting a chess clock in turn. Neither knows how to play chess. On May 3, 2001, an episode (Season 2, Episode 24) called "The Chess Mess" was aired in the TV series Between the Lions. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kInNNKSSwQE) On July 6, 2001, a TV movie called "Black River" aired. Some old men (Robert Harper, David Smith, and Bill Waters) in the park play chess. On November 6, 2001 the first episode of 24 was first broadcast. Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) is playing chess with his daughter, Kim (Elisha Cuthbert). In 2002, an episode (Season 1, Episode 3) of Benjamin Franklin called "The Chess Master" aired. On February 27, 2002, an episode (Season 3, Episode 58) called "Hartsfield's Landing" appeared on The West Wing. President Bartlet (Martin Sheen), an avid chess player, received some nice chess sets from the Indian Prime Minister. He plays two of his top advisors simultaneously in different rooms. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMUFP3x-cno) The chessboard in Babish's office is set up wrong. On March 10, 2002, a TV movie "Firestarter 2: Rekindled" aired. Andrew (Scotty Cox) plays chess with Cody (Travis Charitan). On March 15, 2002, an episode (Season4, Episode 18) called "The Game" from the TV series Lexx (1997-2002) aired. Kai agrees to play a high-stakes game of chess against Prince in The Other Place. If Kai wins, Prince will unite the spirit and body of Kai into one. If Kai loses, Stan and Xev must forfeit their lives. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RHfIvYyhGM) On June 16, 2002, an episode (Season 1, Episode 2) called "The Buys" aired in the TV series The Wire. D'Angelo Barksdale (Lawrence Gilliard) spots his crew playing checkers with a chess set. He teaches them the game of chess using the Barksdales as an analogy. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8lyda_ZkLQ) On January 12, 2003, a made for TV movie called "America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story aired. Two older men in Central Park play chess in the background. On March 16, 2003, a TV mini-series called "Children of dune" aired on the Sci Fi Channel. A chess-like game is played by the twins at a fast pace. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuggNu4iyzE) On April 8, 2003, an episode (Season 2, Episode 16) called "Chess Wars" appeared on The Bernie Mac Show (TV series from 2001 to 2006). Jordan tries to butter Bernie Mac up by playing chess with him so that he can later play paint ball. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmvOlswrG8g) On May 4, 2003, an episode (Season 4, Episode 19) called "Future Malcolm" from Malcolm in the Middle (2000-2006) was aired. Malcolm meets a chess-playing bum named Leonard who could be him in 30 years. (source: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4u1plf) Leonard is a bald overweight man who works 4 hours a days selling toner over the phone so he can devote all his time to playing chess in the park with strangers. He enjoys making fun of everyone who loses to him. Malcolm played Leonard multiple times, but always drew. After seeing Leonard was in debt, Malcolm gets him a job interview at the Lucky Aide. He is interviewed by Craig, but loses the job after he is seen making fun of him with Malcolm in private. He moved away after this incident leaving Malcolm a letter stating that everyone is a jackass, and that world isn't fit for people like us (Referencing that Malcolm and he are both antisocial). On May 23, 2003, an episode (Season 4, Episode 6) called "Chess Mom" from Dexter's Library was aired. In this episode, Mom poses as a personal cheerleader to Dexter as he is playing at a chess championship. However, Mom's cheering only leads to Dexter's embarrassment. On July 14, 2003, an episode (Season 2, Episode 2) called "Fairy Chess" was aired in the TV series Last Exile. On October 17, 2003, a TV movie called "D.C. Sniper: 23 Days of Fear" aired. John Muhammad (Bobby Hosea) and John Lee Malvo (Tent Cameron) play chess in a diner. On the board, both kings are in check, which is illegal. Muhammad announces checkmate, but there is no checkmate, and the enemy king was already in check. On March 2, 2004, an episode (Season 5, Episode 5) called "Chess Champ to Football Manager" appeared on the UK reality-TV show called Faking It (TV series from 2000 to 2006). Maximillian Devereaux is already a chess champion, but can he fake it as a football (soccer) manager in 4 weeks? On November 10, 2004, an episode (Season 1, Episode 9) called "Chess Lessons" appeared on Jack and Bobby. Benedict discovers that Bobby is a talented chess partner. Jack & Bobby ran for 22 episodes in 2004-2005. In December 2004, an episode (Season 24, Episode 11) of The Woodwright's Shop (1979- ), starring Roy Underhill, called "Turning Chess Pieces," aired. (source: https://videos.popularwoodworking.com/courses/the-woodwrights-shop-s24-ep11-turning-chess-pieces) On December 11, 2004, an episode (Season 24, Episode 12) of The Woodwright's Shop (1979- ), starring Roy Underhill, called "Chess Board & Box," aired. The project was to make a chess board with alternating squares of light and dark wood sawed and joined into it. (source: https://videos.popularwoodworking.com/courses/the-woodwrights-shop-s24-ep11-turning-chess-pieces) On January 9, 2005, an episode (Season 4, Episode 11) called "Gone" on Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001-2011) aired. Goren finds himself matching wits with a paranoid chess master suspected of murdering a young woman in town. On January 21, 2005, an episode (Season 4, Episode 11) called "Observer Effect" appeared on Star Trek: Enterprise (TV series from 2001 to 2005). The episode begins with a discussion of the triviality of chess while Travis Mayweather and Malcom Reed play a game of blitz chess. They happen to be under the control of two noncorporeal aliens. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nzkZH5F_4I) On March 12, 2005, Malcolm in the Middle aired an episode featuring chess. Malcolm set up the white pieces on the board, but put the king and queen on the wrong squares. On July 2, 2005, in Season 1, Episode 3 of Chasing Lance, called "Chess on Wheels," was aired. The series was abut Lance Armstrong. It ran for 6 episode in 2005. On October 19, 2005, an episode (Season 2, Episode 4) called "Corporate Warriors" appeared on CSI:NY. A game of chess helps solve a case. In 2005, Knights of the South Bronx appeared on the A&E channel. Richard Mason (Ted Danson of "Cheers") teaches chess to a group of low income students who end up winning the national championship. Mason's character is based on David MacEnulty, who did take his Bronx elementary school students to a national chess championship. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBCLUTCRM9w) On February 28, 2006, an episode (Season 4, Episode 11) called "Gone" appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV series from 2001 to 2011). Detective Goren finds himself matching wits with a paranoid chess master suspected of murdering a young woman. In April 2006, an episode called "The Mad Genius of Bobby Fischer" was shown on Anything to Win, a TV series documentary. It was narrated by Jeremy Schaap. On May 24, 2006, an episode (Season 2, Episode 23) called "Live Together, Die Alone" from the TV series Lost (2004-2010) aired. Henrik and Mathias are seen playing chess in the Listening station. On May 24, 2006, an episode of Let's Paint TV (2001- ), called "Let's Paint, Exercise, Cook, and Play Chess!" aired. Bernard Nacion was the chess player. On November 2, 2006, an episode (Season 1, Episode 7) called "A Matter of Life and Chess" aired on the BBC TV series Young Dracula. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m94urRxJ4y8) On November 4, 2006, Season 1, Episode 8 of Hammered with John and Jimmy DiResta (2006-2007), called "The Custom Chess Set," aired. In 2007, National Geographic aired "My Brilliant Brain," featuring Susan Polgar. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJaknr55PLQ) On January 4, 2007, Chess Now appeared on TV, hosted by Tana. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpamG7Pv6tU) On March 7, 2007, an episode (Season 3, Episode 11) called "Enter 77" appeared on the TV series Lost (2004-2010). There is a computer called DHARMA that has a chess program on it. John Locke plays the computer and loses. One of the positions is from the final position of Ivanchuk vs. Yusupov in 1991. Another position came from Karpov-Kasparov, World Championship Match 1985, game 16. On May 15, 2007, an episode (Season 3, Episode 23) called "The Jerk" appeared on the TV series House (2004-2012). A chess player named Nate beats up another chess player using a chess clock. On June 22, 2007, an episode (Season 10, Episode 20) called "Unending" from Stargate SG-1 (197-2007) was aired. A chess game was played on the stranded Odyssey. On July 2, 2007, Season 1, Episode 14 of Gaming Disasters (2007-2008) featured a review of Battle Chess. The conclusion from one of the reviewers was that you couldn't make a more boring game if you set out to try. On October 13, 2007, the Hip Hop Chess Federation First Kings Invitational, starring The GZA, was aired on Rap City (2000- ). On December 1, 2007, an episode called "Capture the Queen" appeared on CBS 48 Hours. In 2008, The Mentalist had a chess scene where checkmate was announced by a queen move, but the queen could have been taken and no checkmate. On March 24, 2008, an episode called "A Little Clammy and None Too Fresh" on Two and a Half Men (2003-2015) aired. There is some chess playing in this episode. On April 11, 2008, an episode (Season 4, Episode 14) called "Checkmate" from Numb3rs aired. In this episode, Bishop and David play blitz chess. Don runs into Robin Brooks during an investigation concerning informants and a chess master. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kQ1vPiODV4 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDffgNVDRuE) On July 12, 2008, an episode (Season 2, Episode 2) from As the Bell Rings, called "Chess for a Day," aired. On July 25, 2008, an episode (Season 7, Episode 2) called "Mr. Monk and the Genius" appeared on Monk (TV series from 2002 to 2009). Monk matches wits with a chess master who is suspected of murdering his wife. A girl plays chess in the park, has the black pieces, and makes the first move 1.f5. The Grandmaster she is playing says this is the Bird's Opening. It would be if White had played the first move and played 1.f4. On January 25, 2009, Woman Grandmaster and Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk appeared on Fox TV (Lexus Sports Extra). (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFFsQGukNzw) In 2009, a musical episode called "Chess in Concert" appeared on Great Performances. In 2009, an episode (Season 3, Episode 7) of Yard Crashers (2008- ), called "Chess Board Patio," aired. On June 17, 2009, a Great Performance PBS episode (season 37, Episode 19) called "Chess in Concert" aired. Great Performances has been shown on PBS since 1972. This was a London concert of Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus's (ABBA) 1986 cult musical Chess. On November 16, 2009, ABC World News Now covered a news article on chess boxing. On December 21, 2009, an episode (Season 2, Episode 5) of the TV series Timeshift (2002- ), called "How to Win at Chess," aired. It featured GMs Raymond Keene, Daniel King, David Howell, Nigel Short, Victor Korchnoi, Tony Miles, John Nunn, and a host of other chess personalities. On February 2, 2010, an episode (Season 6, Episode 14) called "And the Winner is…" from Numb3rs (2005-2010) aired. There is a chess scene in this episode. On March 31, 2010, an episode (Season 1, Episode 19) called :Game Changer" on Modern Family (2009- ) was aired. Jay brings home a new chess set. Jay takes on Gloria and Manny in the ultimate chess game. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hUoqmLYraU) On April 9, 2010, an episode (Season 9, Episode 16) called "Checkmate" appeared on Smallville (TV series from 2001 to 2011). Amanda Waller has a chess set in her office at Checkmate headquarters. On April 25, 2010, an episode (Season 3, Episode 6) called "Sunset" of Breaking Bad (2008-2013) aired. This episode has a chess scene. Gale plays chess. On September 24, 2010, an episode (Season 2, Episode 39) called "Chess Olympiad" aired in the TV series Who Knew? On February 22, 2011, an episode (Season 2, Episode 14) called "Payback" on White Collar (2009-2014) aired. Neal and Keller play chess. In March 2011, a TV series called Endgame appeared on Canadian drama television. The series follows former Russian world chess champion Arkady Balagan (Shawn Doyle), a genius who uses his analytical skills to solve crimes. It appeared on Showcase Television. In early June 2011, Showcase announced that it would not renew Endgame for a second season. In 2011, a documentary film called Bobby Fischer Against the World was shown on TV in the UK on BBC and the United States on HBO. On February 27, 2011, Book TV on CSPAN did an interview of Frank Brady and his new book on Bobby Fischer, called "Endgame." On March 14, 2011, the TV series Endgame first aired. It was a drama series centering on brilliant chess master Arkady Balagan (played by Shawn Doyle). There were 13 episodes. On April 18, 2011, an episode (Season 1, Episode 6) called "Fearful Symmetry" from Endgame (2011) aired. Balagan is sidetracked by an unexpected mach with a 16-year-old world chess champion. On May 5, 2011, an episode (Season 4, Episode 22) called "The Wildebeest Implementation" appeared on The Big Bang Theory (2007- ). Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) invents "Three-Person Chess." (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHVPutfveVs) On May 30, 2011, an episode (Season 1, Episode 11) called "Mr. Black" on Endgame (2011) aired. Balagan was forced to match his chess skills against a computer when his anonymous online opponent reveals that he is playing for the lives of a group of innocent hostages. On August 28, 2011, an episode (Season 4, Episode 10) called "The Queen's Gambit Job" from Leverage (2008-2012) aired. A chess tournament in being played in Dubai. Over a game of chess, Sterling tells Nate that Kazhistan is developing the infrastructure to develop uranium. The chess game ends in a draw as only two kings remain. Livingston's step-daugher Olivia is playing in the chess tournament in Dubai. At the chess tournament, Hardison rigs it so Olivia plays the easier players to advance, but that means Nate gets the hard ones. He's supposed to meet her in the final. On February 19, 2012, 60 Minutes on CBS presented "Mozart of Chess: Magnus Carlsen." Bob Simon interviewed Magnus Carlsen at the London Chess Classic, held in December, 2011. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc_v9mTfhC8) On February 23, 2012, an episode (Season 5, Episode 18) called "The Werewolf Tansformation," of The Big Bang Theory (2007- ), was aired on CBS. Penny (Kaley Cuoco) beats Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) at chess the first time she ever plays. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtcvCO7oQuY) On March 14, 2012, an episode (Season 7, Episode 15) on Video Game Vault (2006-2014) featured Battle Chess. On April 25, 2012, Magnus Carlsen appeared in The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. Colbert asked him what does the little horsie do? On February 4, 2013, Magnus Carlsen appeared on the Talk Show Metaphsical Milkshake and was interviewed in the back of a 1970s van by Rainn Wilson. On February 19, 2013, an episode (Season 1, Episode 52) called "Chess Cake" appeared on the reality TV show Nerdy Nummies. On March 1, 2013, an episode (Season 2, Episode 1) called "Game of Chess" aired on the TV series 2 Guys and a Couch. Things get touch as Mike and Korey disagree about the rules of chess. On April 24, 2013, the Charlie Rose show on PBS interviewed Magnus Carlsen. On May 6, 2013, an episode (Season 16, Episode 6) of the animated TV series Arthur (1996- ), called "The Last Tough Customer/Brain's Chess Mess," aired on PBS. On May 11, 2013, an episode (Season 7, Episode 13) called "Nightmare in Silver" aired on Doctor Who. It featured a chess-playing dwarf. On May 18, 2013, an episode (Season 1, Episode 30) called "Space Chess" was aired in the TV series, The Cosmonaut. On September 19, 2013, an episode (Season 2, Episode 5) called "Chess(ish)" was aired in the TV series The Agoraphobes. Amy and Colin find a way to spice up a game of chess. On October 24, 2013, an episode called "Ancient History" on Elementary (2012) aired. There was a brief chess scene between Sherlock Holmes and the morgue doctor, and Holmes wins. The board was set up wrong. On December 10, 2013, an episode (Season 1, Episode 6), called "The World's Best Chess Player," from the animated TV series The Travels of the Young Marco Polo (2013- ), was aired. In 2014, Season 1, Episode 16 of the UK TV series Dixi (2014- ), called "No One Goes to Chess Club," aired. On January 19, 2014, an episode (Season 3, Episode 9) called "Deadliest Chess Game: Gustav III Assassination, Shot in the Heart," from Mysteries at the Castle aired on the Travel Channel. It included a vicious Earl playing chess with the devil at a Scottish fortress, an epic love, and a royal murder. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkAOJ9-fUQM) On January 24, 2014, an episode (Season 9, Episode 14) called "The Master in the Slop" for Bones (2005-2017) was aired. When the Jeffersonian team discovers the body of a renowned but disliked chess master named Magnusson amidst pig slop, Sweets surprises the team with his chess skills and goes undercover in the world of professional chess to find the killer. On March 5, 2014, an episode (Season 14, Episode 16) called "Killer Moves" from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000-205) aired. CSI searches for a killer whose victims and locations resemble moves on a chess board. On April 20, 2014, an episode (Season 1, Episode 16) called "Shogi vs. Chess" was aired in the TV animated series, Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time (2014- ). On August 27, 2014, an episode (Season 1, Episode 10) called "A Pack of Cards" on Extant (2014-2015) aired. There is a chess playing scene in this episode. Femi Dodd asks if Ethan Woods has played chess before. Ethan replies, "My dad just showed me. It's easy… You just have to look at the connections. On January 6, 2015, an episode (Season 4, Episode 11) called "If-Then-Else" from Person of Interest (2011-2016) was aired. There is a chess game scene with Mr. Finch playing chess. Finch says this of chess, "It's a useful mental exercise. Through the years, many thinkers have been fascinated by it. But I don't enjoy playing... Because it was a game that was born during a brutal age when life counted for little. Everyone believed that some people were worth more than others. Kings. Pawns. I don't think that anyone is worth more than anyone else... Chess is just a game. Real people are not pieces. You can't assign more value to some of them and not others. Not to me. Not to anyone. People are not a thing that you can sacrifice. The lesson is, if anyone who looks on to the world as if it is a game of chess, deserves to lose. " (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBpIoAYul80) On February 14, 2015, an episode (Season 4, Episode 13) called "Chess Champion, Operation Dream, Special Gymnasts," appeared on the TV series Live Life and Win! (2011- ). On March 2, 2015, an episode (Season 1, Episode 13) called "Chess" from Team Toon (2013- ) was aired. On March 31, 2015, STL TV Live in St. Louis, Missouri featured a segment on the World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis. Shannon Bailey, director of the World Chess Hall of Fame was interviewed. (source: https://archive.org/details/STL_TV_Live_-_World_Chess_Hall_of_Fame) On April 12, 2015, an episode (Season 1, Episode 2) called "A Game of Chess" aired in the TV mini-series April in the Cruelest Month. On June 28, 2015, Season 1, Episode 3 of the TV series JonTron's Starcade (2015- ), called "Star Wars Chess," aired. Jon Jafari reviews the "Star Wars Chess" game with Chewbacca. On August 29, 2015, CSPAN hosted a segment called Open Phones with Garry Kasparov. On September 10, 2015, an episode (Season 1, Episode 1) called "Blind Chess" was aired in the TV series Con. On October 6, 2015, an episode (Season 3, Episode 6) called "Bobby Fischer, King of the Chess People" on Drunk History aired on Comedy Central. It was a spoof of Fischer playing Boris Spassky. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeKHtIAYAeU) On October 28, 2015, the second episode of Bull (2015- ) called "A Fine Example of a Victorian Chess Set (1865)" aired. Rupert Bull (Robert Lindsay) challenges his new rival, Mr. Mumford (Kevin Eldon) to a duel by chess. On October 31, 2015, an episode (Season 5, Episode 6) called "Animal Activist, Chess Champion, Tennis Lessons," appeared on the TV series Live Life and Win! (2011- ). On November 7, 2015, Gary Kasparov was featured on CPAN's Book TV taking about his new book, "Winter is Coming." On December 1, 2015, Season 2, Episode 18, called "Crossword Puzzles, Pinball, & Chess" air in the TV series Origins. It discussed the origins of chess. On December 14, 2015, the TV series James & Mike Mondays (2012- ) review Star Wars Chess from the Sega CD. On May 16, 2016, an episode (Season 2, Episode 9) called "Chess Nuts" in the TV series The Odd Couple. Oscar learns that Felix was a nationally ranked chess player as a child and convinces him to return to the game to make money. The Odd Couple ran on CBS from Feb 2015 to Jan 2017. On June 19, 2016, the first episode of Declassified: Untold Stories of American Spies, was titled "Trigon: The KGB Chess Game." The CIA recruited Soviet diplomat Aleksandr Ogorodnik, codenamed TRIGON, to capture intelligence on the Soviets. On July 1, 2016, an episode (Season 2, Episode 6) called "Serpent's Terms" from Marco Polo (2014-2016) aired. Ahmad's deadly and secret chess match against Kublai enters its endgame. On July 27, 2016, an episode (Season 1, Episode 6) called "The Chess Players" aired in the TV series American Gothic. On July 27, 216, an episode (Season 2, Episode 4) called "The Man in the Mask" from Mr. Robot (2015- ) aired. There are a few chess scenes as Eliot and Mr. Robot play chess. On January 27, 2017, an episode (Season 2, Episode 10) from Handcrafted America (2016- ) featured a talented craftsman in Hawaii who hand-turns Koa wood chess sets. On February 4, 2017, an episode (Season 2, Episode 17) of Cell Outs 2.0 (2016- ) featured real life chess boxing. Joven and Lasercorn go head-to-head in boxing and chess. On February 8, 2017, an episode (Season 2, Episode 6) called "A Game of Chess" aired on the TV series, Too Close to Home. On February 12, 2017, an episode (Season 28, Episode 14) of the Simpsons has Homer playing chess at the bowling alley. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrBy2X4xa-0) On March 11, 2017, an episode (Season 6, Episode 15) of Life Life and Win! (2011- ) featue a 14-year-old world chess champion. On March 18, 2017, an episode (Season 1, Episode 7) called "hack Attack" from Power Rangers Ninja Steel (2017) aired on Nickelodeon. Sarah (Pink Ranger) signs up for four different clubs, including the chess club. She beats Preston in chess. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLLA7-y32gc) On March 26, 2017, 60 Minutes on CBS covered a story on chess ("Chess Country") in Franklin County, rural Mississippi. On June 28, 2017, an episode (Season 5, Episode 19) called "Chess Master Steve" on the animated TV series Uncle Grandpa (2010-2017), aired. On July 30, 2017, CSPAN interviewed Garry Kasparov on a segment called Deep Thinking. On August 20, 2017, an episode (Season 4, Episode 1) called "Game" from Endeavour (2012- ) was aired. A pattern of murders suggests a serial killer with a knowledge of chess moves. There was a chess scene where it was announced that the pawn was moved to queen four (d4), but the green computer screen showed the pawn went to king four (e4). On September 13, 2017, an episode (Season 4, Episode 9) called "Chess to the Death," was aired in the TV series PaulWesNick. Wes and Ari engage in a chess match that could lead to disaster. Return to Main Page Please report broken or duplicate links to the Webmaster. Official Website Copyright 2017 by William D. Wall All Rights Reserved

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