dir. Richard Dembo
This Swiss-French co-production received multiple awards including an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the Prix Louis Delluc and a French César for Best First Film but it's virtually forgotten now. Deeply rooted in the Cold War politics, it is a story of two men competing in the World Chess Championship. One is the current champion, an aging Soviet Jew, and the challenger is a thirtysomething Soviet defector. The latter is played by a former Russian actor Alexander Kurepov, billed here as Alexandre Arbatt. The plot echoes a similar confrontation between the Soviet champion Anatoly Karpov and the Soviet defector Viktor Korchnoi in 1978 and 1981. There are also some similarities with the 1972 World Chess Championship between the American Bobby Fischer and the Soviet champion Boris Spassky.
Akiva Liebskind's (Michel Piccoli) arrival in Geneva. The Geneva airport has been substantially rebuilt since the early 1980s, and it's hard to confirm whether the episode was actually filmed there. The old photos of the airport don't match the buildings seen here.
The villa where Pavius Fromm (Alexandre Arbatt) is preparing for the tournament - Still searching for this location.
The following episode is only present in the English version. Fromm leaves the villa on a motorcycle, rides into Geneva and stops at a gas station. In the station's men's room, he swaps his helmet and jacket with another man. He then leaves in the man's car while the other rides out on Fromm's motorcycle.
Fromm approaches the gas station - Avenue de France at Rue de Montbrillant, Geneva, Switzerland.
The gas station was the Garage des Nations at Rue de Montbrillant 96, Geneva, Switzerland. Constructed in 1936 by Maurice Braillard, Pierre Braillard, and Robert Maillard, it is now used as the visitor's center of the adjacent United Nations High Comissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) complex built in 1995.
Fromm secretly meets with Tac-Tac (Daniel Olbrychski), a member of Liebskind's team - Rue du Rhône at Place du Molard, Geneva, Switzerland.
The villa where Liebskind is preparing for the tournament is supposed to be near Geneva but it was filmed at La Gentilhommière, 560 Rue de Feucherolles, Orgeval, Yvelines, France. It's a 1830 family manor set in a wooded park, used as an event venue for corporate seminars, meetings, and private celebrations like weddings.
The hall where the tournament takes place isn't in Geneva either. It's the Théatre du Vésinet, 59 Boulevard Carnot, Le Vésinet, Yvelines, France.
Fromm is jogging with Felton (Wojciech Pszoniak) at the Parc Mon Repos, Geneva, Switzerland.
Fromm moves into a new villa claiming that his previous place was bugged - Still searching for this location.
The Soviets bring Fromm's estranged wife Marina (Liv Ullmann) to unsettle him. They place her in a hotel, its exterior is never shown but judging from the window views it's the Hotel des Bergues, Quai des Bergues 33, Geneva, Switzerland.
She looks down from the window and notices a surveillance car - Place des Bergues, Geneva, Switzerland.
Later, she looks at the night city from the hotel balcony at Place du Rhône and Quai Bezanson-Hugues, Geneva, Switzerland.
The hospital scenes - Hôpital Saint-Michel, 33 Rue Olivier-de-Serres, Paris, France. The old building was demolished some time after 2012. Inaugurated in 2017, the former hospital site is now a multi-use community and healthcare village dedicated largely to psychiatric and physical disabilities.
The doctor escapes his KGB handler and asks for political asylum - Galery Jean-Malbuisson, Geneva, Switzerland.
Fromm and Marina's meeting at the villa - Still searching for this location.
