La partie d'échecs (The Chess Game)

It is 1828. Max, a runaway child on the verge of suicide, comes across Ambroise, a disillusioned priest. The young boy soon turns out to be a chess genius, and the two of them set off in quest of the world cham­pionship tide. Fourteen years later, Max has become a powdered dandy, strange and silent. Ambroise, his faithful trainer, pro­tector and manager, accompanies him everywhere. Max meets the most elegant and condescending champion of the day, Lord Staunton, in a machiavellian encounter arranged by the marquise of Theux. The marquise loves not only chess but also amorous intrigues, and has promised her ravishing daughter Anna-Lise to the man who wins the match.