The Great Chess Movie (Released)

Obscure 1982 production out of the National Film Board of Canada, that made the indie film circuit back then.  Documentary that shows the lead up to the Karpov-Korchnoi world championship match, and the political cold war drama that accompanied it, as well as some wonderful footage of Bobby Fischer and other famous players, as well as historical footage and discussion about every conceivable angle of the game of chess.

This film has been out of print for a long time.  I bought a VHS copy of it in the rare window of time that it was available, and am lucky that it still is in very good condition.

A couple of weeks ago, I managed to score a mint in box Panasonic AG-1980, one of the best VHS decks for digitizing.  Finished a nice transfer, and am now encoding it for DVD.

This is a real niche item… doubt that too many folks here would be interested, but thought I’d post just in case.

Congrats on scoring an MIB AG-1980. (Also one of the best Super VHS decks too.) I actually wore out the first one I bought in 1996. Did a lot of editing with it back in the day.

I'll bet you got yours from the same seller I got my second one from on Ebay a few years back. Nobody else has them brand new anymore!

I'd totally check out this movie. It wouldn't be the first time I've watched a documentary on chess!

It's done now.

The original transfer was pretty poor, like it was done with a dirty lens.  But the VHS was in perfect condition and it digitized well.  It was my first transfer with my newly-acquired Panasonic AG-1980, and wow what a difference that made over my already decent Mitsubishi deck.  Didn't even need to use the external TBC.

Not much of a menu... just a screencap and a "play" button.