The Dark Horse

All Things Chess
1

This film is based on a true story about a bi-polar chess player and chess instructor in New Zealand. The film has won a number of international awards. IIRC, it was mentioned here close to a year ago. The film is now available on Amazon Prime free for Prime members. Don’t miss it if you haven’t already seen it.
See: nytimes.com/2016/04/01/movie … .html?_r=0
“The Dark Horse” rides on the impassioned performance of Cliff Curtis, the Maori actor who plays Genesis (a.k.a. Gen) Potini, a New Zealand chessmaster with bipolar disorder. With a partially shaved head and many extra pounds, Mr. Curtis is barely recognizable from his roles in “Whale Rider” and “Once Were Warriors.” The film, directed and written by James Napier Robertson, is inspired by Jim Marbrook’s 2003 documentary, “Dark Horse,” which focused on Mr. Potini, a speed-chess player who died in 2011…
…The movie skillfully weaves together two strands. It is a power struggle between the brothers for the soul of Mana, who is torn between the values of his angry, hypermacho father and his gentle giant of an uncle. Because Gen longs to do something positive, he takes it upon himself to teach the alienated Maori teenagers in a local chess club, the Eastern Knights,…"

The Eastern Nights Club is apparently still active and changing young lives for the better.
I’ve only been able to find two of Genesis Potini’s games. Here they are.
[Event “?”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “???.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “D. Evans”]
[Black “G. Potini”]
[Result “1-0”]
[Annotator “?”]
[BlackElo “0”]
[ECO “C60”]
[Remark “?”]
[Source “?”]
[WhiteElo “2185”]

  1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. O-O Ng6 5. d4 Nxd4 6. Nxd4 exd4 7. Qxd4 a6
  2. Be2 Qf6 9. Qxf6 gxf6 10. Nc3 c6 11. Be3 h5 12. Rad1 d6 13. a4
    Be6 14. f4 Bg4 15. a5 O-O-O 16. Rd4 Bg7 17. Rfd1 f5 18. Bxg4 fxg4 19. Rxd6
    Bxc3 20. Rxd8+ Rxd8 21. Rxd8+ Kxd8 22. bxc3 f6 23. g3 Kd7 24. Bd4 Ke7 25. Kf2
    Nf8 26. Bc5+ Kf7 27. Bxf8 Kxf8 28. Ke3 Ke7 29. Kd4 Kd6 30. e5+ fxe5+ 31. fxe5+
    Ke6 32. Ke4 1-0

[Event “Waitakare Weekender 2005”]
[Site “Waitakare Trust,Auckland,N.Z.”]
[Date “2005.05.14”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Genesis Poutini”]
[Black “Richard Taylor”]
[Result “*”]

  1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 d5 4. Bb5+ Bd7 5. Bxd7+ Qxd7 6. exd5 Qxd5 7. Qf3 Nf6 8. cxd4 Nc6 9. Nc3 Qxf3 10. Nxf3 e6 11. O-O Be7 12. Re1 O-O 13. Bg5 Rfd8 14. Rad1 Nd5 15. Bxe7 Ncxe7 16. Ne5 Rac8 17. Nxd5 Rxd5 18. Nf3 Rcd8 19. Rd2 Nc6 20. Red1 h6 21. h3 e5 22. dxe5 Rxd2 23. Rxd2 Rxd2 24. Nxd2 Nxe5 *