Pawn Sacrifice Page #9

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Green Revision 10-14-13 48.

BOBBY:

(on the phone)

Operator, I'm trying to find a number

for Regina Fischer....well how many

Regina Fischers can there be in

California?....

(to Donna)

Making sure my mom doesn't come

tomorrow.

(on the phone)

Somewhere near the beach....

(to Donna)

She likes the ocean.

(on the phone)

Well ask the lady next to you and

she can ask the lady next to her.

You sit in lines, right?

*

*

*

Donna stifles a giggle.

BOBBY (CONT'D)

Just look her up in your-He's

cut off. *

Sh*t.

BOBBY (CONT'D) *

*

DONNA:

So you want to lose your virginity

tonight?

*

BOBBY:

Donna, I haven't forgotten our

arrangement and I'm looking forward

to it.

(smiles)

But tonight I've got to practice. I

killed one of them today so tomorrow

they'll come at me like wasps.

Bobby turns and walks off into the rain.

62 INT. BOBBY'S MOTEL ROOM - LATER THAT NIGHT 62

Bobby and Lombardy are playing "blitz." Speed chess.

Lombardy is pushing Bobby. Bobby pushes back.

BOBBY:

Passed up having sex for this.

WHAP. Hits the clock. WHAP. Lombardy makes a counter-move.

LOMBARDY:

Passed it up for twenty years.

Yellow Revision 10-11-13 48A.

63 EXT. MOTEL ROOM - SAME 63

Bobby's is the only light still on. From inside, we HEAR

WHAP, WHAP, WHAP as their practice continues into the night.

Green Revision 10-14-13

49.

64

EXT. BEVERLY HILTON HOTEL - SAME

KGB guys flirt with American women.

A SHADOW slips past. It's Boris Spassky making his escape.

65 EXT. BEVERLY HILLS STREETS

Boris wanders through residential Beverly Hills.

66 INT. SANDWICH SHOP, BEVERLY HILLS - NIGHT

Boris is playing a pinball machine inside a sandwich shop.

Geller peering in from the street, spots him and enters.

GELLER:

Been looking for you.

Boris keeps playing.

GELLER (CONT'D)

You have a game tomorrow. You should

be sleeping.

Outside, a limo pulls up and a KGB man gets out. Geller nods

through the window that everything is all right.

GELLER (CONT'D)

Disappearing makes people nervous.

BORIS:

Is Ivanovich really sick?

GELLER:

Influenza. We are flying him home.

Boris looks at him, knows he's lying. Goes back to his game.

GELLER (CONT'D)

It looks bad to lose even one game

to an American.

Boris allows the ball to drop out of play.

64

65

66

*

Green Revision 10-14-13 50.

GELLER (CONT'D)

If Fischer makes it to the final you

will be there to crush him.

The CLICK of a SURVEILLANCE SHOT from across the street.

67 INT. SANTA MONICA MOTEL - MORNING 67

Marshall walks out. Lombardy takes him aside.

LOMBARDY:

We have a problem.

Bobby is standing by the empty pool, holding a sheet of paper.

BOBBY:

I'm not going to play again until my

conditions are met.

MARSHALL:

What conditions?

BOBBY:

Number one. From now on we arrive

at tournaments in a big black car

like the Russians.

MARSHALL:

Limousines cost money.

BOBBY:

Number two. My picture was on today's

front page of the LA Times. The

more I win, the more people come. A

thousand people are paying 5 dollars

apiece to see me play. That's $5,000.

I want 30%. $1,500.

*

*

*

*

Bobby-MARSHALL

BOBBY:

Money is respect. Chess is a sport.

People respect sports stars.

(reading)

Number three. I need five feet between

me and the audience. I can smell

their breath, it's almost like I

hear their thoughts. My thoughts

need to be on the board.

MARSHALL:

Is that all?

Green Revision 10-14-13 50A.

BOBBY:

And get somebody to check our phones

aren't being bugged.

(starts off)

Screw the limo. I'm walking.

*

*

Green Revision 10-14-13 51.

Bobby sets off. Lombardy sets off after him.

A68 EXT. MOTEL - CONTINUOUS A68

Lombardy catches up to him.

LOMBARDY:

You ready to talk about the match

now?

BOBBY:

(grins)

Forgive me, father, for I have

sinned..

Lombardy can't help but smile. Bobby can be disarming.

LOMBARDY:

Yeah, right. Now....if Benko plays

the Sicilian, what's your counter?

*

*

We can no longer HEAR them as they walk away but their

animated gestures signal the intensity of their preparation.

68 INT. SANTA MONICA MOTEL, OFFICE - NIGHT 68

The motel clerk is watching local news on a small TV.

NEWS ANCHOR (V.O.)

Americans don't beat Russians at

chess. But it happened today in

Santa Monica--

INTERCUT DOC-STYLE "news" footage of Bobby's victories --

masterful, slapping his pieces, scribbling in his notebook.

NEWS ANCHOR (V.O.) (CONT'D)

--and when American chess sensation

Bobby Fischer is around, it just

keeps on happening....

Donna and the motel clerk are watching on the tiny TV.

CLERK:

Son of a b*tch broke three of my

phones looking for bugs.

Green Revision 10-14-13 52.

DONNA:

That's what rock stars do.

trash hotel rooms.

They

NEWS ANCHOR (V.O.)

Tomorrow, a record crowd will watch

the American -- Bobby Fischer -- as

he faces Russian World Champion Boris

Spassky in the final match.

Donna stares at the screen, wide-eyed.

DONNA:

Never f***ed a champion before.

69 INT. SANTA MONICA MOTEL, BOBBY'S ROOM - NIGHT 69

Bobby lies in bed, lost in thought. Donna is beside him. *

DONNA:

Wasn't so bad was it?

BOBBY:

.....See, the problem is I'm black...

Huh?

DONNA:

BOBBY:

I like to open with the Kings Indian

but he's an expert on the Samisch.

Who?

DONNA *

*

BOBBY:

Spassky. So maybe a Grunfeld...

But then I need to find a remedy to

P-B4...

*

*

*

He spins inward. She's feeling a little left out. *

DONNA:

....Did you reach your Mom?

she'd be proud.

Bet

*

*

She tries stroking his arm. He withdraws slightly. *

BOBBY:

Gotta go back to work.

Bobby is already pulling on his pants, leaving the room.

DONNA:

Yeah, it was good for me, too.

Green Revision 10-14-13 52A.

70 INT. SANTA MONICA MOTEL ROOM - LATER THAT NIGHT 70

Bobby can't sleep. Paces. Studies his notebook.

1:
00am.Bobby drinks milk. Paces. Studies more.

It's

It's 3:
30am.

*

He's about to drift off. The alarm clock RINGS. 7:00am. *

71 INT. SANTA MONICA TOURNAMENT HALL 71 *

Bobby and Lombardy walk a hallway. Bobby looks like hell. *

*

Green Revision 10-14-13 53.

LOMBARDY:

Up late, huh? You all right? *

Their eyes meet for a flicker.

BOBBY:

Never better.

72 INT. SANTA MONICA TOURNAMENT HALL - DAY 72

Bobby stops before entering the playing area and sees Spassky.

Boris looks rested and detached. Lombardy sees him looking.

*

*

LOMBARDY:

You got this guy.

BOBBY:

Think I don't know that?

Across the hall, Boris senses Bobby's gaze. Their eyes meet.

We sense the two men have made fatal contact, and one of

them must be destroyed. Bobby looks away first.

*

Bobby and Spassky approach their table. The audience APPLAUDS.

The two men stand behind their seats. Geller whispers in

Boris's ear. Livo Nei hands him a note pad and pen. A third

brings him a worksheet, a fourth hands him a glass of water.

*

Lombardy leans in to whisper to Bobby.

LOMBARDY:

Remember, don't try to overpress.

If he opens with the Nimzo-BOBBY

(harsh whisper)

You think I'm a idiot!?!

Lombardy is mortified. Bobby is immediately contrite.

BOBBY (CONT'D)

...Sorry, Father.

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