Alekhine blindfold Chess movie

White Snow of Russia (1980),

A Soviet film about the life of Alexander Alekhine was adapted from the novel White and Black (1965), by GM Alexander Kotov. GM Kotov was also the author of the classic Chess guide, Think Like a Grandmaster.

The scene shows Alekhine (Aleksandr Mikhaylov), a Russian emigrant, challenging to take on 32 Nazi officers at once without sight of the board.

In real life, Alekhine set various world records for simultaneous blindfold games, and is often referred as the greatest Blindfold player of all time. His greatest feat was a Blindfold simultaneous exhibition against 32 opponents in 1933 at Chicago. Unlike in the movie, his 32 opponents weren’t German nazis but they were all serious Chess players. Which make the feat even more impressive.