The story behind the game of chess in Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone

I started playing chess a few months ago, and I was recently thinking about the chess game at the end of the first Harry Potter film. Did it follow the rules of chess? Did the moves make sense? Etc.

Fortunately, I found a great[1] blog post on The Leaky Cauldron , where the International Master, Jeremy Silman, that worked with the producers of the film, explains how he planed the game of chess, and that some of it was in fact cut from the film[2].

I probably should have expected that the producers got some professional help for the chess scene, but it still fascinated me seeing how the game was planned, and the constraints that had to be met.

I can't quote any section here without spoiling any section, but if it sounds interesting, head over to The Leaky Cauldron to read the full story.


  1. Apart from the fact that they use "Sorcerer" instead of "Philosopher". ↩︎

  2. It doesn't appear that this specific post was authored by him, but instead used with his permission, and adapted for the websites audience. ↩︎