Dan Scoones wrote in message . ..

The main part of the action took place on board a ship, where both
Czentovic and Dr. B. were passengers. A group of chess enthusiasts
were playing Czentovic in consultation. Czentovic had his back to the
consultants and was playing bridge at the same time. The consultants
would signal that they had moved by tapping on a glass of water. Dr.
B. came along and gave them some help, and together they managed to
save what had probably been a lost position. The scowl on Czentovic's
face when the draw was achieved was something to behold. Of course
the narrator (one of the consultants) spent most of the rest of the
film trying to set up a game between the two masters. Dr. B. was a
thin, nervous fellow with glasses, whose story of internment was told
in flashbacks. Czentovic was a dark, heavy-set fellow, whom I later
thought might have been modelled after Alekhine. I never forgot this
film, but unfortunately I've never seen it again.

Was it Mario Adorf who played Czentovic? (See his picture at
http://www.marioadorf.com/). He's a well known actor in Germany. If
he's the one you saw then you must have seen the German film.

Marco