In the final game, Pavius and Akiva play the French Defence / Paulsen Attack. The moves are as follows: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Be2 cxd4 7. cxd4 Nh6 8. Nc3 Nf5 9. Na4 Bb4+ 10. Bd2 Qa5 11. Bc3 b5 12. a3 Bxc3+ 13. Nxc3 b4 14. axb4 Qxb4 The film ends here; at this point, it is much too early in the game to determine who will win.
Many of the events are based on the Anatoli Karpov vs Viktor Korchnoi World Chess Championship match in 1978. The actual match pitted Karpov (a Soviet prodigy) vs Korchnoi (who had escaped to the West just a few years prior to the match), and there was no love lost between the sides. The accusations included Karpov's team using a "parapsychologist" (Vladimir P. Zukhar) to sit in the audience and try and unnerve Korchnoi during the matches, and Korchnoi using two members of the Ananda Marga sect who were experts in "transcendental meditation". Other actions included arguments about what anthems and flags could be used, accusations of secret devices hidden in Korchoi's chair that he used during the matches (the chair had to be X-rayed), and accusations that yogurt delivery to Karpov during the games was a form of secret communication. The events are also described in the documentary Closing Gambit: 1978 Korchnoi versus Karpov and the Kremlin (2018).
Switzerland's official submission to the 1985's Oscars in the Best Foreign Language category,