In one of the most famous games of the era, the so-called Immortal Game played between
Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky in 1851, Anderssen voluntarily gave away both his rooks, a bishop and then - most spectacularly of all - his queen, the most powerful of all chess pieces.
Yet in these deft moves, chess initiates will no doubt recognize a narrative after all, since Thater, in the jejune spirit of battle reenactment, has staged--with the help of various members and the owner of the Los Angeles Chess Club--the so-called Immortal Game of 1851 between
Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky (which also appeared in a somewhat altered form in Blade Runner) and Garry Kasparov's 2003 melee with his computer opponent, Deep Junior, as well as the fictitious game between Alice and the Red Queen in Through the Looking Glass (which Thater decided to play herself).
