After watching ‘Pawn Sacrifice’, the game, that involves kings, queens, knights and bishops, but essentially two players poring over a small table, will never look the same again.

Playing Fischer, Maguire accurately portrays the frustration that the people close to the real chess prodigy felt, but understood and tolerated because they knew that this was no ordinary guy. Essaying a complex character like Fischer isn’t easy, but Maguire does a pretty admirable job of it. You might just want to bring out that old chessboard after watching this one.

Pawn Sacrifice is a fascinating drama, a biopic of sorts, that sheds light on the life and career of America’s most valued asset during the height of the cold war. And it’s not a weapon of mass destruction I am alluding to, but a homegrown champion whose mastery over the game of 64 squares put the chess giants, USSR, on the back foot.