Chess master who scripted iconic Harry Potter scene is no more

For those who don’t play, Silman’s most lasting impact is arguably the wizard’s chess scene he created for 2001 film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. At the request of director Chris Columbus, Silman devised an eight-move chess endgame depicting a powerful allegory, a “story within a story” about courage, sacrifice and overcoming mighty foes. In this scene, the foe was the White Queen. Later, of course, we discover it to be Voldemort.

A lesson on forethought—not a strong suit for our brash Gryffindors—the endgame also showcased Ron Weasley’s intellect, a trait often muffled by the focus on Harry Potter’s heroism and Hermione Granger’s book-smarts.

Knight Ron Weasley vs the White Queen. This was the endgame’s seventh move, a make-it-or-break-it part of the match.

Silman also had a bone to pick with Hollywood’s depictions of chess till then: filmmakers would not flesh out games, only showing suave, ‘expert’ checkmates. That was not how chess operated in real life—to win, you’d often need to sacrifice pieces.

“Throughout my life, I’ve watched movies and TV make a joke of real chess positions and real chess lingo,” Silman once wrote, adding that Sorcerer’s was a chance to set things right. It helped that JK Rowling had written about bewildered 11-year-olds trying to beat magical obstacles. Struggles and sacrifice wouldn’t just be natural, but inevitable.

To amp up the movie magic, Columbus also placed restraints on Silman’s endgame: the first move had to be an exciting capture, and Harry and Hermione could not be sacrificed while standing in as chess pieces. For obvious reasons—it would end the series. Silman thus had to reverse-engineer what board arrangement would push Ron, as per the first book, to knowingly sacrifice himself.

Harry Potter’s chess scene: Harry is Bishop on a3, Ron is Knight on g5, and Hermione is Rook on f8. This endgame requires Ron to sacrifice himself for Harry to win. For all eight moves, see the-leaky-cauldron.org

Unfortunately, this strategy did not translate on film due to severe cuts across the board. Silman’s contribution was also left uncredited.

With its two-and-a-half hour runtime, Sorcerer’s Stone slashed most of its original wizard’s chess scene, leaving a logically confusing—but visually fun—montage. The original plan of Harry delivering a defeat to the White Queen (the true villain) was omitted, replaced by Harry’s direct checkmate to the King. And while the emphasis stayed on Ron’s sacrifice, the ‘why’ behind it was erased.

“I (had) designed this to be an important moment. To me, the audience would get an enormous amount of emotional satisfaction with Harry’s conquest of the hateful Queen,” Silman explained. “Unfortunately, movie dynamics once again turned a well-thought-out chess situation into mumbo-jumbo…”

American master Jeremy Silman over the years, as shared by US Chess on Twitter.

On strategy: Silman’s chess thinking checklist

Jeremy Silman dedicated much of his life to helping beginners polish their technique. In his 2010 book How to Reassess Your Chess, he recommends a five-fold strategy for players to use after checking for threats on both sides:

1. Figure out the positive and negative imbalances for both sides.
2. Figure out the side of the board you wish to play on. You can only play when a favourable imbalance or the possibility of creating a favourable imbalance exists.
3. Don’t calculate! Instead, dream up various fantasy positions, i.e., the positions you would most like to achieve.
4. Once you find a fantasy position that makes you happy, you must figure out if you can reach it. If you find that your choice was not possible to implement, you must create another dream position that is easier to achieve.
5. Only now do you look at the moves you wish to calculate (called candidate moves). The candidate moves are all the moves that lead to our dream position.

Silman is survived by his wife, family and friends.