My guests this week are Cecilia Albertini and Chandler Toffa the director and co-producer (respectively) of the charming new documentary The City of Human Chess. This short documentary tells the story of Marostica, Italy, where a famous chess game is recreated by human volunteers on a bi-annual basis. The event has a long tradition and draws upwards of 4000 paying customers. It is a touching story about people working together and the connective power of chess, and I greatly enjoyed watching it and discussing it with its creators. We also discussed Cecilia and Chandler’s backgrounds both in chess and away from it. Timestamps for topics discussed can be found below. 

If you sign up for MagellanTV, use link code to save 30%!

http://go.chess.com/livingchess.

Trailer for the film here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kdaZSb-5Z0

0:00- Thanks to our presenting chess education sponsor, Chessable.com. 

You can check out new courses, including the excellent Silman’s Endgame Course, presented by IM Alex Banzea, here:

https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/?page=2

0:02- Cecilia and Chander discuss how they became aware of the bi-annual human chess game. 

0:07- What is the history of the human chess game in Marostica, Italy?

0:12- Which chess game is demonstrated by the humans in the game? 

Mentioned: Nimzowitsch-Alapin 1914

0:13- How much time on location did Ceclia spend? 

20:00-How did they decide to show the film on the Magellan platform? 

25:00- Chandler discusses his prior collaboration with Chess.com, Griffin’s Gambit, which you can watch for free on YouTube. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5_D11NJI3I

28:00- Chandler and Cecilia discuss their own chess games! 

33:00- Thanks to Cecilia and Chandler for joining me! Please be sure to check out their film via this link to save 30%!

http://go.chess.com/livingchess

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