Editing Searching for Bobby Fischer (section)

==Sarwer versus Waitzkin match==
{{algebraic notation|pos=secright}}
At the end of the film in the final tournament, Josh is seen playing opponent Jonathan Poe. In actual life, Josh's opponent was [[Jeff Sarwer]], who was younger. In September 1985, Josh first played and was defeated by Jeff at the [[Manhattan Chess Club]]. In November of the same year, Josh returned to the Manhattan Chess Club and beat him in a rematch.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wall|first=Bill
| date = 7 August 2007
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210614164048/https://www.chess.com/article/view/searching-for-bobby-fischer-the-movie-trivia
| archive-date= 14 June 2021
|title=Searching for Bobby Fischer (the movie) Trivia|url=https://www.chess.com/article/view/searching-for-bobby-fischer-the-movie-trivia|access-date=8 January 2023|website=Chess.com}}</ref> The film depicts their third match in the 1986 [[Scholastic chess in the United States|US Primary Championship]]. Near the end of the game, where Josh offers Poe a [[draw (chess)|draw]], Poe rejects the [[draw by agreement|offer]], the play continues and Poe loses. Sarwer rejected the draw offer in the real-world game as well, but the play continued to a draw due to [[bare king]]s. Under [[Tie-breaking in Swiss-system tournaments|tournament tie-breaking rules]], Waitzkin was determined to have played more challenging opponents during the overall competition and was awarded first place, but they were declared US Primary School co-champions.<ref>pp. 214–22 of the book</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1473029|title=Jeff Sarwer vs. Joshua Waitzkin, US Primary Championship (1986)|website=Chessgames.com|access-date=August 17, 2011|archive-date=November 5, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071105182800/http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1473029|url-status=live}}</ref> Sarwer went on to win the 1986 [[World Youth Chess Championship#Under-10 winners|World Championship Under-10 (Boys)]], with his sister Julia winning the [[World Youth Chess Championship#Under-10 winners|World Championship Under-10 (Girls)]].

===Poe versus Waitzkin endgame===
{{Chess diagram
 |tright
 |"Poe vs. Waitzkin"
 |  |  |rd|bd|  |  |  |
 |pd|  |  |  |  |  |pd|
 |  |nd|  |  |kl|pl|  |
 |  |  |  |  |rl|  |bl|
 |  |  |  |  |nl|  |  |pl
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |kd|  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 |Black (Waitzkin) to move
}}
The diagram depicts the game position in the film, with Waitzkin playing the [[White and Black in chess|black pieces]], before Waitzkin offers Poe the draw. This position did not occur in the real Sarwer–Waitzkin game; it was contrived by Waitzkin and Pandolfini for the film. The following moves are executed:

:'''1... gxf6 2. Bxf6 Rc6+ 3. Kf5 Rxf6+{{chesspunc|??}} 4. Nxf6 Bxf6 5. Kxf6[[Chess annotation symbols#??|??]] Nd7+ 6. Kf5 Nxe5 7. Kxe5{{chesspunc|??}}'''
In the October 1995 issue of ''[[Chess Life]]'', [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] [[Larry Evans (chess grandmaster)|Larry Evans]] stated that the position and sequence were {{chessgloss|unsound}}: Poe (playing White) could still have drawn the game by playing 7.h5 instead. Furthermore, though not mentioned in the issue:

(i) The rook exchange 3...Rxf6+ is not a brilliancy but instead loses; 3... Nc4., 3...Nd7 and 3...Bxf6 hold the draw.

(ii) the modern Lomonosov 7-piece [[endgame tablebase]] shows White has a win after 4...Bxf6 with 5.Re2+, sacrificing White's rook for Black's bishop, and [[Promotion (chess)|queening]] safely.<ref>5.Re2+ Kd1 6.Kxf6 Kxe2 7.h5 Nd7+ (7...a5? 8.Ke6 and White can win the {{chessgloss|pawn race}} safely) 8.Ke7 Ne5 9.h6 Ng6+ 10.Kf7 Ne5+ 11.Kg7 Nd7 12.h7 Nc5 and White queens.</ref>

:'''7... a5 8. h5 a4 9. h6 a3 10. h7 a2 11. h8=Q a1=Q+ 12. Kf5 Qxh8 {{chessAN|0–1}}'''
White [[Rules of chess#Resigning|resigned]].
{{clear}}

===Alternate endgame===
An alternate endgame position had been composed by [[Pal Benko]]. It was to have been used in the film, but was rejected the day before the scene was filmed because it did not use the theme that Josh had rashly overused his queen.
{{Chess diagram small
|tleft
|
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |pd|  |
|  |  |  |  |  |pl|  |
|  |  |nd|  |  |  |  |kd
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |bl
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |kl
|Black to move
}}
<br>In this position, Black should play:
:{{pad}}'''1... Ne2'''
after which White is in [[zugzwang]]; he must play either 2.Bg3, losing the bishop to 2...Nxg3+, or 2.Bg1, allowing 2...Ng3{{chessAN|#}}.<ref>[[Bruce Pandolfini]], ''Endgame Workshop: Principles for the Practical Player'', 2009, p. 64, Russell Enterprises, {{ISBN|978-1-888690-53-8}}</ref>
{{clear}}