"War is over" and chess

by ChessBase
3/14/2024 – In this year's Academy Awards a wonderful 11-minute film won the award for Best Animated Short. It was inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1971 peace anthem "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". The short film "WAR IS OVER!" was created by son Sean Ono Lennon and director Dave Mullins. It is set in an alternate WWI reality where two soldiers on opposite sides of the conflict play a game of chess. The game used in the film was suggested by chess historian Edward Winter, and has a highly unusual ending.

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"War Is Over!" is an animated 11-minute film, inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono's peace anthem "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", which was released in 1971 as a single. The film was written by Dave Mullins, with the story by Mullins and Sean Ono Lennon, and the score composed by Thomas Newman. The animation and visual effects were created by Peter Jackson's New Zealand-based VFX company Wētā FX.

The film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 96th Academy Awards on March 10. It depicts an alternate WWI reality, in which a pigeon delivers messages across the battlefield, from one side to the other. Messages are exchanged by two soldiers on opposite sides, who play a game of chess against each other (without knowing who their opponent is). 

You can watch video excerpts from the film and learn all about the process of its production on the official War is Over promotion page here. We learnt something interesting about the chess aspect of the film.

Where did the game they show come from? Dave Mullins was looking for an illustration of the theme of check followed by immediate checkmate. He consulted none other than our friend, chess historian Edward Winter, who suggested a 1950 game between Bogoljubow and Trott, which Mullins used, with colours reversed. Here, for your pleasure, is the game:

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
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1.e4 c5 2.Ne2 Nc6 3.Nbc3 d6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.d3 e6 7.Nf4 Nge7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Re1 Rb8 10.Nce2 b5 11.c3 Qa5 12.a3 b4 13.Bd2 bxa3 14.Rxa3 Qb6 15.Bc1 Bd7 16.Ra2 Rfc8 17.g4 Na5 18.h3 Nb3 19.Be3 e5 20.Nd5 Nxd5 21.exd5 f5 22.gxf5 Bxf5 23.Ng3 Rf8 24.Kh2 Rb7 25.Rg1 Kh8 26.Ra3 Bd7 27.Ne4 a5 28.Bf3 Be8 29.Rg2 h6 30.Be2 a4 31.Qg1 Nd4 32.cxd4 Qxb2 33.dxc5 Qxa3 34.Nxd6 Rb8 35.Nxe8 Rfxe8 36.Rxg6 Rg8 37.Qg4 e4 38.Qh5 Rge8 39.Bxh6
39...Be5+ 40.Bf4#
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Bogoljubow,E-Trott,A-1–01950B25Southsea8

The game ends with a black check (in the diagrammed position) with a checkmate reply by white. Here's a pleasant little task for you: dig up the most interesting games with a similar ending – check, checkmate.

If you want to learn everything about the Bogoljubow game, and in fact learn more about his opponent A.H. Trott, you can read about it in this recent Chess History article, from which we take the following scan (click to expand) with kind permission:


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