Bobby Fischer Against the World is a feature documentary that uses the narrative tension of the 1972 match between Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer to explore the nature of genius, madness, and the game of chess itself. This film tells the stranger-than-fiction story of the rise and fall of Fischer, a true icon. From veteran filmmaker Liz Garbus, and the final project of late editor Karen Schmeer, Bobby Fischer Against the World exposes the disturbingly high price Fischer paid to achieve his legendary success and the resulting toll it took on his psyche. Rare archival footage and insightful interviews with those closest to him expand this captivating story of a mastermind’s tumultuous rise—and fall.

Academy Award®-Nominated, Emmy-Winning Director/Producer Liz Garbus is one of America’s most celebrated documentary filmmakers. Her most recently completed project, Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech, premiered at Sundance 2009, and was broadcast on HBO the same year. Other directorial credits include The Farm: Angola, USA, nominated for an Academy Award, and winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize; The Execution of Wanda Jean (Sundance Film Festival, HBO), The Nazi Officer’s Wife, Girldhood, Yo Soy Boricua!, Pa Que Tu Lo Sepas, co-directed by Rosie Perez, and Coma (HBO). Garbus, along with Rory Kennedy, also executive produced the 2006 Academy Award-nominated film Street Fight, and Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, which won the Emmy® Award for Best Documentary in 2007.