Pawn Sacrifice Page #4

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REGINA:

Bobby-

BOBBY:

Gone where? When? Who? WHY?

REGINA:

Baby, it's late...

Bobby holds the man-size shoes out the open kitchen window.

BOBBY:

Now.

Regina deflates. Holds her head. Sighs. Sighs again.

REGINA:

...Paul died two years ago. I think

you knew that.

BOBBY:

Paul? Paul who? .....UNCLE Paul--?

Regina can barely meet his gaze. Yes. Uncle Paul.

BOBBY (CONT'D)

HE was my father? And you never

told me? And now he's DEAD?!

(MORE)

Yellow Revision 10-11-13 18.

BOBBY (CONT'D)

(starts pacing)

....GET THE F*** OUTTA HERE. I WANT

YOU TO LEAVE! I WANT YOU AND MR.

BIGFOOT...TO LEAVE!

He FLINGS the shoes out into the street.

BOBBY (CONT'D)

Go back to Moscow with your Commie

friends. I am in training. I am

studying day and night to be world

champion, do you understand? The

youngest world champion...ever! I

NEED SILENCE AROUND HERE! Do you

understand! I. WANT.....SILENCE!!!

He storms out.

30 EXT. WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK - DAYS LATER 30

Joan makes her way through the misfits, poets and drifters

playing chess in the open air. She finds Bobby asleep at

the chess tables. His suit is wrinkled and filthy.

JOAN:

Carmine said you're staying at the

chess club.

BOBBY:

Quiet there.

JOAN:

What about high school?

BOBBY:

Ha. Is she still there?

She sits beside him.

JOAN:

She fixed up the apartment. Even

got the hot water heater working.

Bobby looks at her, sensing an agenda.

JOAN (CONT'D)

She won't be living there anymore.

(holds up the key)

She's going to do politics in

California with Cyril.

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BOBBY:

You mean King Kong.

JOAN:

She thought if they went away you'd

go home and sleep in a bed.

BOBBY:

That's what she told you? And you

bought it?

(stands up)

She's running away with some nutcase-

Big Foot-communist and, oh you

know what? It's for Bobby's benefit!

JOAN:

You said you wanted quiet.

(looks at him)

You won, Bobby. Be happy.

31 AN INTERVIEW 31

Hand-held, grainy black-and-white.

INTERVIEWER (O.S.)

Bobby Fischer Interview. Take One.

(hits the slate)

So, Bobby, how long before you get a

shot at the title?

BOBBY:

The Federation makes it very difficult

to advance in the rankings. Gonna

take a few years. But when that day

comes I'll be ready...!

His grin -- when it happens -- is like the sun suddenly

breaking through the clouds. 60's MUSIC KICKS IN.

Green Revision 10-14-13 20.

A32 IN A CAVERNOUS HALL (60'S ROCK MUSIC CONT.) DOC-STYLE A32

Bobby defeats several opponents. He poses among other East

European grandmasters. Carmine is nearby, beaming.

NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER #3 (V.O.)

(in Yugoslav; subtitled)

In Portoroz, Yugoslavia, American

chess prodigy Bobby Fischer became

the youngest ever Grandmaster in the

history of the game...

Bobby has a large gold medal around his neck. An American

news reporter puts a large microphone in his face.

REPORTER (O.S.)

How do you explain your success?

Bobby looks at him for a moment, then simply, without guile:

BOBBY:

I'm better than everybody else.

B32 IN A CHESS CLUB B32*

Bobby plays TWENTY OPPONENTS at once -- their chessboards

surrounding him in a circle. Carmine hovers nearby.

NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER #2

With each passing year he rises in

the International ranking. Maybe

someday America can finally claim a

champion of its own.

As he moves from one to another, we INTERCUT MORE ARCHIVAL

FOOTAGE:
JFK'S funeral. The Beatles. The Berlin Wall.

Vietnam. LBJ. Cassius Clay.

The CAMERA spins with him as he plays -- faster and faster -until,

as Bobby passes from our view, obscured behind one

player, he EMERGES on the other side as the mature 24 year-

old we saw in the opening scene.

C32 EXT. BULGARIA TOURNAMENT HALL (TO ESTABLISH) C32*

Caption:
Olympiad of Varna, Bulgaria'62

D32 INT. BULGARIA HALL HALLWAY D32*

Bobby and Carmine walking. Bobby is psyching himself up.

Green Revision 10-14-13 20A.

CARMINE:

Okay, Ivanovich relies on the Indian

defense-*

*

*

BOBBY:

He stopped using it in Portorosz.

And Petrossian is no longer defensive

out of the Nimzo. His mother died

last month and he's become more

cautious.

*

*

*

*

*

*

CARMINE:

How do you know this stuff?

BOBBY:

The magazines, man. They don't know

I read Russian. All I gotta do is

outscore them by two points. That

way they gotta give me shot at the

championship.

CARMINE:

Good. Good. How about we think

about the first one first...

32 INT. BULGARIA TOURNAMENT HALL 32 *

The enforced stillness of a chess tournament. Bobby defeats

one opponent after another. He looks invincible. His focus

is absolute.

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Nearby, two RUSSIAN PLAYERS have finished their game -they're

shaking hands. A draw.

Bobby looks over, studying their board. Suddenly he stands

up from his game and approaches an ARBITER.

BOBBY:

(whispering)

Excuse me. Over there -- the Russians -TBD

has an opening on Petrosian,

instead he draws in fourteen moves?

ARBITER:

If you'll take your seat please, Mr.

Fischer.

BOBBY:

Are you blind? They're playing each

other soft to save their strength

and then padding their point totals

so I can't win -- YOU SHOULD BE

WATCHING THIS!

HEADS TURN as he voice rises. Carmine comes over.

CARMINE:

Bobby, sit down, you don't want to

be disqualified.

BOBBY:

You see what they're up to? No matter

how many points I get, they're getting

more. This is such bullshit...

Then, into the hall, walks Boris Spassky! Bobby can't help

but stare as Spassky sits at a nearby table.

Bobby tries to return to his game, but he's upset now. He

furtively steals glances at the handsome Grandmaster.

Suddenly, everything is distracting to him.

A chair SCRAPING.

A light buzzes.

A Russian advisor WHISPERING to another advisor.

Bobby looks up at the TOURNAMENT BOARD. He scheduled to

play Spassky next.

Bobby crackles with anxiety -- looking over at Spassky -while

his opponent ploddingly contemplates his next move.

Finally, unable to stand it:

Yellow Revision 10-11-13 21A.

BOBBY (CONT'D)

...Knight to Kings Pawn Six, Bishop

to Bk4, King to e-5, Queen to Qp2.

King to Nb6, Queen to Bd3. Mate.

His opponent realizes he is indeed doomed.

33 DOC-STYLE:
A DOOR WITH A SIGN: "SILENCE, MATCH IN PROGRESS" 33

The door opens and Bobby storms out. A cameraman films him.

BOBBY:

They're conspiring against me. They

want to destroy me because they know

I'm better than they are.

Bobby is followed by officials and journalists. Carmine

takes his arm.

CARMINE:

Bobby...

Bobby yanks his arm free...

BOBBY:

The Russians are cheating! There,

I've said it! Nobody else will!

Bobby grabs a guy with Soviet accreditation.

Yellow Revision 10-11-13 22.

BOBBY (CONT'D)

You want that in Russian? Niet pycni

osmahbi.

An OFFICIAL takes Bobby's arm...

OFFICIAL:

Mr Fischer, if we could go back inside

and talk about this...

Bobby pushes the official -- who falls into a signboard.

Bobby tries to help the man to his feet.

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