Ledger was to Direct a Movie About Chess.

Heard this morning that Heath Ledger was to direct a movie about Chess that was to be called “Queen’s Gambit”.

Part of a story by Paul Lieberman of the L.A. Times -

“For the last year, Ledger also had been gearing up for his directorial debut, working with veteran screenwriter Allan Scott on an adaptation of the Walter Tevis novel “The Queen’s Gambit,” about an orphan girl who becomes a chess prodigy. Scott said they recently offered the part to “Juno” star Ellen Page.

“The movie is about chess, and what is a little known fact is that Heath was very close to being on the grandmaster level,” said Scott, who met and spoke to the actor frequently over the last year in New York and London. “He was a chess whiz, and he intended to get his grandmaster rating before he started shooting the picture.”

When the script fell into Ledger’s hands, the young actor aced out competitors and persuaded Scott to let him direct. “He had done some talented music videos and commercials,” said Scott, who was impressed by how Ledger spoke about the material and by his devotion to the project.”

Playing Bobby Fischer to a Draw.

In 1964, a Hungarian immigrant who worked at a brewery in Philadelphia played Bobby Fischer to a draw. Youtube video from warpafx.