Champion of the World
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Aleksey Sidorov
Written by	Aleksey Sidorov
Produced by	Leonid Vereshchagin Anton Zlatopolskiy Nikita Mikhalkov Rafael Minasbekyan Aleksey Sidorov Sergey Gurevich Mikhail Kitaev
Starring	Ivan Yankovsky Konstantin Khabensky Vladimir Vdovichenkov Viktor Dobronravov Viktor Sukhorukov Diana Pozharskaya
Cinematography	Mikhail Milashin
Music by	Artyom Vasilev (ru)
Production companies	Central Partnership KIT Film Studio TriTe Productions Cinema Fund
Distributed by	Central Partnership
Release date	30 December 2021 (2021-12-30)
Running time	121 minutes
Country	Russia
Language	Russian
Budget	₽550 million

Champion of the World (Russian: Чемпион мира, romanized: Chempion mira) is a 2021 Russian sports drama film written and directed by Aleksey Sidorov.^[1] The film tells the story of the rivalry between the Soviet Union's venerable sports artist, chess player Anatoly Karpov, who is competing against Viktor Korchnoi for the title of World Chess Championship.^[2]

It was theatrically released on 30 December 2021 by Central Partnership.

Plot

The film tells about the famous World Chess Championship in 1978, against the background of which the chess player Anatoly Karpov loses his family, faces the betrayal and intrigues of the CIA, as well as pressure from the party.^[3]

Cast

• Ivan Yankovsky as Anatoly Karpov
• Konstantin Khabensky as Viktor Korchnoi
• Vladimir Vdovichenkov as Pavel Trofimovich Gradov, Chairman of the USSR Sports Committee (prototype — Sergei Pavlovich Pavlov)
• Viktor Dobronravov as Sergei Maksimov, a KGB officer responsible for the security of Anatoly Karpov's team in Baguio (prototype — Vladimir Pishchenko)
• Viktor Sukhorukov as Viktor Baturinsky, director of the Central Chess Club, head of Anatoly Karpov's team leader
• Diana Pozharskaya as Veronika Karpova, Anatoly Karpov's wife (prototype — Irina Kuimova)

Other cast

• Fyodor Dobronravov as Anatoly Karpov's father
• Mikhail Teynik as Yuri Balashov, grandmaster, Anatoly Karpov's second
• Anatoly Kot as Igor Zaitsev, grandmaster, Anatoly Karpov's second
• Dmitry Iosifov as Mikhail Tal, Soviet chess player, eighth world champion, consultant to Anatoly Karpov
• Anton Bogdanov as Vasily Brykin, chef, Anatoly Karpov's team
• Dmitry Miller as Sevastyanov, Chairman of the USSR Chess Federation
• Aleksandr Filippenko as General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev
• David Brodsky as Boris Zelenin
• Armen Ananikyan as Tigran Petrosian, Soviet chess player, ninth world champion
• Vladimir Khalturin as Boris Spassky, Soviet chess player, tenth world champion
• Aleksandr Gorelov as Lev Polugaevsky, Soviet chess player
• Pekka Strang as Bobby Fischer, American chess player, eleventh world champion
• Josefin Asplund as Paola, Viktor Korchnoi's cohabitant
• John Warren as Raymond Keene, English chess player, Viktor Korchnoi's second
• Reilly Costigan as Michael Stean, English chess player, Viktor Korchnoi's second
• Pascal Durier as Max Euwe, Dutch chess player and functionary, fifth world champion and FIDE president
• Junsuke Kinoshita as Florencio Campomanes, FIDE Vice President
• Aleksandr Kan as Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines

Production

In 2019, the film was included in the list of 14 film projects that will receive financial support from the Cinema Foundation.

Filming

Principal photography began in July 2020 and lasted until March 2021, taking place in Spain, Netherlands, Thailand, Philippines, and Moscow, Russia.^[4][5]