Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

RandN-Perry If you are interested in chess or computers you may be tempted to watch this film. Don't be. The film is only tangentially about chess or computers. It has nothing to say - no purpose. Many of the scenes are meandering. Some seem to have nothing to do with the movie. Some are genuinely creepy.The film's title and back cover description miss-represent what the film is about. If is was titled "Creepy people play computer chess" then the potential viewer at least has an idea what they were in for. Now I know the typical stereotype of the computer nerd who plays chess, and there are some in this film. Fine for dramatic effect. But that's not what chess or computer development is about.I have a keen interest in film. Most film produced and distributed today is of a good standard in terms of purpose, script and production values. This fails on all three.Disclaimer: I have played competitive chess for many years and have a FIDE rating over 2000.

Jesse Jordon We live in a world where there is a lot of technology. And by a lot, I mean an excessive, never-ending amount of technology that just continues to progress every second. Pieces of information are flowing on the internet at every single moment. Computer Chess is trying to emphasis on that aspect but also doing much more than that. A 1980s period piece shot on old-school digital cameras in which it gives the look of amateur, badly produced film and is in a 4:3 ratio, gives the film a unique look that only helps the film portray the themes it wants to. It takes place over a single weekend and tells the story of multiple different characters during a computer chess tournament which essentially entails computers facing off each in chess made by programmers. There are many different characters in this film, we don't follow a specific one, rather many. Patrick Riester as Peter Bishton, a shy, socially awkward young college student is one of the most important characters who has some of the most important scenes throughout the film. Another notable character is Michael Papageorge played by Myles Paige which his character leads to most of the surrealism and complete and utter strangeness this movie has. It starts off as a only slightly strange film, which mostly came from the look of the movie, but it still seemed like it was going to play out like an interesting but straightforward period piece that only explored certain themes in a minor sense. Mostly involving the fear of A.I. and what it could potentially do in the future. But, the movie is much more than that. Throughout the film, we have strange glitches in the visual imagery, it could be intentional or it could be the old equipment causing it but regardless, it is a foreshadowing of the strangeness to come. We have another group of people at this hotel where the tournament is happening, a group of strange post-60s hippies who do weird group exercises that at first make you laugh but you also question why the hell they are in this movie. To me, this movie portrays two extremes: The meaninglessness that may come from ones work (the programmers) and the false sense of freedom that comes from a strange mindset (hippies). Both aren't very ideal, one leads to alienation, loneliness, and confusion. The other leads to a false sense of actual happiness. The movie is also quite funny at times, mostly in a dry sense. It doesn't portrays it's comedy in a big way but in very subtle ways with it's complete strangeness. To me, I haven't seen a movie this unique in a long time. It's a risky period piece that does many different things and will not leave you after seeing. Portrays two extremes, displays the fear of eventual overbearing technology, and asks extensional questions we all wish maybe we had an answer to. In conclusion, this is one of the best movies of 2013, I haven't seen anything like it.

marklear-1 This film is a good idea, and a couple of the players do a reasonable job with the material. However, I found the whole program was most disappointing. Some care had been taken to use authentic looking computers from the period, but this effort was wasted. It really needed an experienced scriptwriter to check for continuity and irrelevant sections. On the print we saw in Melbourne, Australia, there was even a short section of colour which overlapped a part of the film and left a small hole in the "story". It seemed that they did not have enough material for a feature length film, so they introduced quite a few contrivances to stretch it out, but all they did was to add to the haphazard nature of proceedings. One major contrivance appeared to be used throughout the film so that the result of the final chess game was the one wanted by the writers. Very silly, and an artificial way to produce "surprises" in the story. I was also surprised to see that the Tribeca Film Festival was associated with this film.

Sergeant_Tibbs Computer Chess may have an unconventional and experimental style, but its story is simple. It's very much like a Christopher Guest competition mockumentary setup with a similar satirical sense of humour and fortunately its exposition is welcome and well-handled. Its video and black and white cinematography feels more than a gimmick and places the film convincingly in the 80s. At least it makes better use of it than last year's disappointing No. Although it's intended as a character-based film, peering into the lives of the contestants rather than concerned with the competition itself, it's the area it struggles with most. It's difficult to keep track of characters and many feels like cartoons. But its themes still work. It makes you think about the progression of technology and its integration with society as well as what you should live for. It's more of a directors movie with hints of surrealism and meta scenes where the gimmick breaks the mold which results in making Computer Chess interesting, thoughtful and entertaining film but wildly inconsistent with the places where it doesn't know what it's doing.7/10