Checkmate!

[Baldwin]

Here's something that's bugged me in many movies:

Two characters are playing chess. (This applies to movies that don't have chess as a central plot element.) One of the characters makes a move, and announces "Checkmate!"

Almost always there are two problems with the scene:

1) Almost all the pieces seem to be on the board. Outside of a Fool's Mate, that doesn't happen often.

2) The character who's just lost is supposed to be competent, but somehow he was totally unaware that he was a move away from being mated. He's surprised.

But then, along comes Mel Brooks.

I'm watching a DVD of Blazing Saddles. When Sheriff Bart meets the Waco Kid (drunk in a jail cell), he asks the Kid what he likes to do. The Kid thinks and says, "Oh, play chess. . . screw . . ." Bart quickly says, "Let's play chess!"

So then you see them at a chessboard. Bart announces "Checkmate!" The Kid seems surprised -- but he's a liquor-soaked alcoholic, so that's plausible.

Here's the important thing -- it really is checkmate. I stopped the DVD to look, and the Kid's king is in check by one of Bart's rooks, and can't move without being in the path of Bart's other rook and remaining bishop. There are only seven pieces on the board -- it looks like the endgame of a real match.

I don't know if Mel Brooks plays chess, but he's a smart guy and obviously likes to get details right. So, kudos to Mel.

And, after 35 years, the movie's still funny.