Directed by: Steven Zaillian
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Joan Allen, Joe Mantegna, Max Pomeranc
Question: When Josh's father is reading a book to Josh, the passage we hear goes something like "And when he saw that the cottage was completely destroyed, the monster fled and took shelter in the woods." Does anyone have any idea what book they were reading?
Question: Who is the strong player with the Russian accent whom Josh plays in the park near the beginning?
Answer: Vasek Simek.
Deliberate mistake: Towards the end of the film, Josh is playing a game in the park with Vinnie, and Vinnie asks "What's that?", to which Josh replies "Schliemann Attack." However, this dialogue occurs while the game is still in standard opening theory and before Josh has played the move that introduces the Schliemann Attack (pawn to f5).
Josh Waitzkin: You've lost, you just don't know it yet.
Trivia: Max Pomeranc, who plays Josh, is himself a strong chess player. At the time this film was made, he was ranked among the top 100 in the nation for his age group.
Answer: "The Vampyre" by John Polidori.