Skyfall – the TLC Trio's chess video

by ChessBase
5/26/2013 – They represent a unique blend of traditional sound and twenty-first century rhythm, playing songs by the Beatles, Lady Gaga and Elvis with classical instrumentation. The TLC Trio's latest video features a live chess game – Kasparov vs Topalov, Wijk 1999 – that plays out, move for move, to Adele's "Skyfall." A U14 World Champion, protégé of Kasparov, costars. Chess like you have never seen it.

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TLC Trio is made up of the colorful violins of Lauren and Connor Madsen and the lively piano of Tessa Young. Quickly capturing local attention at Salt Lake City Library’s 2010 Teen Concert Series, TLC is a unique blend of traditional sound and twenty-first century rhythm. In addition to Broadway show tunes and familiar classical music, they play well known contemporary hits by artists such as the Beatles, Elvis, U2, Journey, Duran Duran, Queen, INXS, and The Eurythmics, to name a few. When these songs are played by a piano violin trio, the juxtaposition of classical instrumentation playing contemporary music is unforgettable.

TLC Trio - Skyfall

Here's the new chess video by TLC. Do not give up on it after the first minute or so – you will regret having missed some unique bits that show you what captures in chess are all about. Thank you guys for this wonderfully inspirational staging of a famous game – which we can follow on the Javascript board below.

This is what the group writes about Skyfall:

Our co-star is International Master Kayden Troff. He is the current Under 14 World Champion, the #1 player in America for his age, and the youngest International Master in America. While filming the video, Kayden was invited to compete in the 2013 US Chess Championship. It is the most prestigious chess event in the United States, and features 24 of the country's strongest competitors. Kayden is mentored by World Champion Garry Kasparov, who is considered by many to be the greatest chess player of all time.

The human chess game seen in the video was modeled after a famous chess game played by Garry Kasparov and Veselin Topalov in 1999. It has come to be known as Kasparov's Immortal.

[Event "Hoogovens"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "1999.01.20"] [Round "4"] [White "Kasparov, Garry"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B07"] [WhiteElo "2812"] [BlackElo "2700"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "1999.01.16"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "13"] [EventCountry "NED"] [EventCategory "17"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.04.01"] 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 c6 6. f3 b5 7. Nge2 Nbd7 8. Bh6 Bxh6 9. Qxh6 Bb7 10. a3 e5 11. O-O-O Qe7 12. Kb1 a6 13. Nc1 O-O-O 14. Nb3 exd4 15. Rxd4 c5 16. Rd1 Nb6 17. g3 Kb8 18. Na5 Ba8 19. Bh3 d5 20. Qf4+ Ka7 21. Rhe1 d4 22. Nd5 Nbxd5 23. exd5 Qd6 24. Rxd4 cxd4 25. Re7+ Kb6 26. Qxd4+ Kxa5 27. b4+ Ka4 28. Qc3 Qxd5 29. Ra7 Bb7 30. Rxb7 Qc4 31. Qxf6 Kxa3 32. Qxa6+ Kxb4 33. c3+ Kxc3 34. Qa1+ Kd2 35. Qb2+ Kd1 36. Bf1 Rd2 37. Rd7 Rxd7 38. Bxc4 bxc4 39. Qxh8 Rd3 40. Qa8 c3 41. Qa4+ Ke1 42. f4 f5 43. Kc1 Rd2 44. Qa7 1-0

Not every move in the human chess game can be shown in the video. But on set we went through each step, move for move, matching exactly the game as played by Kasparov and Topalov, except for the final move where we show the white queen capturing the black king.

We took license here as it seemed more appropriate to show the queen "killing" the king rather than having the king simply resign. We thought it was pretty cool to model our human chess game after a game played by World Champion Garry Kasparaov, who is also Kayden's mentor.

The white queen is played by Shelby Smith, who is known for her roles in several full length motion pictures. She is also involved with Idaho based Improv Underground. Filmed & Edited by Brian Wesley Productions. For more information visit the home page of the TLC Trio or like us on Facebook.

Home page of the TLC Trio

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You can find plenty more (highly enjoyable) videos here on YouTube


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