FIVE BEST CHESS MOVIES

Critic Robert Basalla recommends five movies that feature chess less foolishly than most:

"Searching for Bobby Fischer." Basalla's favorite of many 1990s chess films hams up its true-life sources, but makes few outright blunders and captures the game's mystique.

"The Seventh Seal." Death plays black in Ingmar Bergman's often-parodied 1956 classic.

"The Luzhin Defence." A 2000 version of a Vladimir Nabokov novel about a eccentric chess player. (Is there any other kind?) "Dangerous Moves." This 1985 Oscar-winner from Switzerland shows the drama and strain of a championship showdown, but mistakes include English subtitles describing different moves than the dialogue.

"Knight Moves." Players fall faster than pawns in this 1993 killer thriller.

Shun this: "No Name on the Bullet." A player castles with his queen. Without a hint of humor, his opponent responds, "You play an interesting game."

To buy: "Chess in the Movies" (listed for $34.95 plus shipping), see www.amazon.com or www.uscf.org, or contact author Robert Basalla, swgcfwip@core.com.