64 squares, black and white, one winner and one loser. Computer Chess is a period film set at the cusp of the modern era when computers were still mysterious bits of wire and solder rather than devices used to replicate a shopping mall or night club. Set in a hotel housing a competition between rival computers from across the nation, the film delves into some pretty complex questions about identity and existence... in a very weird way.
As the computer experts set their creations up to box each other on the board and a fellow exhibitor tracks the progress on an overhead projector, another conference is being held in the same hotel that uses group therapy to get to the core of who we are and why we are here. The two conferences start to mesh when what should be one of the better computers seems to be malfunctioning and fails to win a single game.
Young programmer Peter Bishton brings the unit to the hotel room of Shelly Flintic, the one female programmer at the tournament, and discovers that the computer wants to play against her, not other computers.
Meanwhile the star of the tournament, the shifty Michael Papageorge, finds that he does not have a room after all and as he searches for a room to crash in, he encounters a group of videographers who hold a theory that the CIA is very closely watching the tournament in regards to its relationship to national defense. After spending the night on their floor, he steals their stash of assorted pills and starts to hallucinate then becomes part of the rival conference.
After their experimental game, Shelly excitedly tells Peter that she had a vision from a balcony overlooking the tournament floor and saw the attendees as chess pieces. In a daze brought on by many sleepless nights debugging his malfunctioning computer, Peter asks her if she saw one person mesh into another or any sign of teleportation.
One of the most innovative and interesting films I have seen in a long time, Computer Chess is available to stream on Netflix.
For more information, including ways to purchase the movie or see it on the big screen in select cinemas, visit the official site.
Written by: Scott Snyder
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