Columbo (TV Series) The Most Dangerous Match (1973) User Reviews

Flawed Gotcha Takes Away From Ending

[tigger_68 · 6/10 · 26 February 2017]

I enjoyed this episode, the sparring between Falk and Harvey was wonderful.

However it seems to me that the gotcha at the end is flawed.

Columbo's theory is that the killer had to be deaf because a person who could hear would have known the machine stopped and would have turned it back on. But this is flawed for two reasons.

1. Even as a deaf man Harvey would have felt the vibrations from the machine stop, so he would have known.

2. If the premise of the murder was that the victim fell in by accident and/or jumped in to kill themselves then they would have been alone when they went in the machine.

This means nobody would be around to push the button.

So if you were the killer and could hear perfectly you still would not have pushed the button because you would not have wanted to make it obvious this was a murder

Entertaining, but flawed ending...

[Apalerwuss · 6/10 · 12 May 2021]

I do love Columbo, but way too many episodes have really poor "smoking gun" endings that supposedly prove the murderer's guilt. This was another one, and it took away from what was otherwise a pretty good episode.

The "proof" here would not in a million years get a man convicted, let alone get a devious mastermind to admit (more or less) to his crime on the spot when presented with the pure guesswork that masqueraded as evidence.

Inventive and entertaining: a very good match between Columbo and the murderer

[The Welsh Raging Bull · 7/10 · 22 April 2002]

A chess grandmaster (Emmett Clayton) becomes increasingly uncomfortable and anxious on the run-up to a chess match with a Soviet player (Tomlin Dudek) who has come out of retirement especially to play him. When the two meet on the evening before the match and Clayton suffers defeats in both a spontaneous game at a restaurant and a pre-arranged game at the hotel, he decides to take matters into his own hands...

The chess environment serves as a particularly appealing and suitably competitive back-drop to this episode for it facilitates an individualised battle of wits between Columbo and murderer.

Laurence Harvey (in one of his last performances) is remarkably superb as the multi-faceted Emmett Clayton, whose increasingly disturbing mental state is temporarily overcome by a remarkable assuredness to murder the only threat to his supremacy as a chess champion.

The plot is refreshingly original and well-thought-out and the script adds different dimensions to those found in the usual Columbo story, particularly as the murderer has to have two separate attempts at killing off his rival.

The whole episode is reasonably well-paced after it carefully sets up the necessary plot information/murder scenario as Columbo tries to unravel the real truth whilst at the same time undermine a very self-confident murderer.

The climax contains some of the best scenes: Columbo's harassment of the murderer with damning accusations whilst he tries to play numerous chess games at once; and then in the basement of the hotel as Columbo perpetrates a crafty plot to confirm his suspicions.

Two minor gripes:

(1) At two key moments Emmett Clayton is able to gain access to Tomlin Dudek's hotel room (once to pack his bag for him and the other time to tamper with his medicines). This happens all too easily: how does Clayton manage to time it when the cleaning lady is/has been in Dudek's room and how does he avoid being seen?

(2) Columbo can only perfectly test out his theory at the end when Clayton removes his hearing aid? How did he know he was going to do that?

These two gripes aside, this is a well above-average, strong addition to the series.

Only a big jerk would kill someone over a chess game!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 18 August 2019]

Emmett Clayton (Laurence Harvey) is the world champion chess player. However, when he earned this title, the previous champion, Dudek, was retired. Now Dudek has come out of retirement to see if he can beat the great Clayton. However, when Clayton realizes Dudek IS better, he decides to kill the man in order to preserve his precious ego as well as his reputation.

Someone watching this show today might not understand the context for the show. Just a year before, there was a huge match between Bobby Fischer and the Soviet champion, Boris Spassky. During this match as well as before it even began, Fischer's extremely neurotic behavior made newspaper headlines all over the world. His antics were so bad, many Americans were rooting for Spassky! Clearly the match and odd behaviors in "Columbo" are highly reminiscent of this well-publicized match...though, of course, no one tried to murder Spassky...and Fischer actually won.

Laurence Harvey was excellent here as the highly strung and neurotic champion. This didn't surprise me at all, as Harvey was AMAZING at playing scum-bags and did so in many movies. Sadly, this handsome and talented man died shortly after this episode...and he was only 45 years old.

Overall, this is a fascinating and well written episode. Well worth seeing and full of great twists and turns. Very well done.

Columbo outwits a chess champion in this superior effort

[J. Spurlin · 14 April 2005]

Columbo often plays a kind of chess game with his opponents, but this time his adversary is an actual chess champion.

Emmett Clayton (Laurence Harvey, with echoes of his tormented character in "The Manchurian Candidate") has a nightmare before an important chess match, a nightmare the director helpfully visualizes for us as a giant fog-filled chess board, on which Clayton and his opponent are chess pieces. Clearly, he's worried about his match with Tomlin Dudek (Jack Kruschen, who looks a bit like Captain Kangaroo), a kindly old fat Russian. Later, the two meet, not coincidentally, in a French restaurant, where they begin using the salt and pepper shakers and other objects on the table as chess pieces. The game continues in Clayton's apartment – secretly, because both Dudek's doctor and his coach would throw fits if they knew the diabetic Russian was out late, eating rich foods with his opponent. Clayton loses the impromptu game and has a nervous fit, from which Dudek tries to calm him down.

Meanwhile, Columbo appears before there's even a murder: Dudek's coach had panicked and called the police when the champion didn't show up in his hotel room on time. So Columbo is aware of this man even before something serious happens.

The next day something does. Clayton decides he must murder Dudek before the match. He concocts a scheme that makes it look as if Dudek met with an untimely accident in the hotel's trash compactor. But our rumpled and seemingly disorganized Lt. Columbo is on the case.

Clayton makes for an interesting adversary. He refuses to play along with Columbo's pretense, forcing our resourceful detective into some quicksilver improvisation. Clayton won't pretend for a moment that Columbo is just interested in clearing a few things up, and he calls him on it immediately. He also won't stand for Columbo's usual forgetful routine. Wonderfully, he demonstrates his own superior memory in a way I'll leave for you to discover. Clayton is also nearly deaf, a handicap that has both unusual advantages and unexpected perils.

The script is not as quite as sure and deft as the great "Columbo" episodes, like "Murder by the Book" and "A Stitch in Crime." But it comes very close. I particularly loved the scene where Clayton plays chess with a series of fawning opponents as Columbo grills him. And then there's the ending, which is very satisfactory. This is a must-see for "Columbo" fans and good entertainment for anyone else.

Chess is a dangerous game indeed.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 8/10 · 19 April 2008]

It's nice that the movie tries some new things for a change. For instance it introduces the Columbo character first into the movie before the murder has even occurred and he starts to investigate before they have even found a body. We don't even get to see how the crime unfolds fully at the beginning but there is a good reason for this as later becomes obvious. It also in a way is more or less a sequel to "Columbo: Étude in Black", of one year earlier. Normally a Columbo movie doesn't refer back to anything that happened in previous Columbo movies but this one does, with Lt. Columbo, his dog and Dr. Benson.

The movie also doesn't feature a lot of interaction between Lt. Columbo and his suspect, a formula normally used in a Columbo movie. This is an element that might disappoint some of the Columbo fans. At moments like this the Columbo character is normally at its best when he puts pressure on his suspect or tries to gain his trust by playing dumber than he of course obviously truly is.

The Columbo character himself also looks 'cleaner' than normal and is it me or is his trademark raincoat in a different color, or at least in some sequences it looks like it.

Of course different doesn't also mean better but in this particular case I didn't mind some of these changes, since the movie obviously still worked out and can be regarded as one that is on par with most of the other Columbo movies and even slightly better than just the average ones.

It's also thanks to the settings and acting that this movie worked out. As dull as it might sound but I like chess and movies featuring the game and world of chess always have a certain typical atmosphere over it, of certain high intellectuality and true gentlemen but at the same time, tension, suspicion and rivalry.

Peter Falk is in good form again as Columbo and it's one of his better acting jobs as the shabby police detective. It also helps the movie that it features Laurence Harvey as the movie it's prime suspect. He is in great form, in one of his very last screen roles before his death in 1973.

It's a fine written and directed movie. The story isn't the most clever or ingenious ones, at least not when being compared to the best and most memorable Columbo movies but it's a story that doesn't bore and still provides plenty of surprises and entertainment, even though this movie doesn't feature as much comical relief as was the case in some other Columbo movies, which in my opinion is a positive thing. The movie features a good build up, to a fine ending. The directing is mostly formulaic and by the book but also features some good dream like sequences and other more different elements that are consistent with the '70's and less standard way of making movies.

I like it as a sort of different Columbo movie.

8/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Chess Grandmaster is a Fool

[Mr-Brain · 7/10 · 14 July 2003]

Being a chess player myself, I really enjoyed this movie, probably more so than the average person. One of the funniest moments in the movie is when the grandmaster, who had murdered his Russian rival, is confronted (again) by Columbo during a chess simul (an event where a strong player plays matches against several players at once). He becomes so distracted that he gets checkmated by one of his opponents. But the really funny part of this is that you can actually see that the position on the board is the famous "Fool's Mate". Although not even a mediocre player would fall into this trap - much less a grandmaster, even when being annoyed - it really is a fitting position for the movie, for undoubtedly, any chess player who commits murder for fear of losing a chess match is a fool indeed!

Very well done

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 13 March 2011]

I have been a fan of Columbo for as long as I can remember, and I really enjoyed this episode. My only gripes are to do with one or two things that weren't quite as well thought out as another reviewer points out so well, which is the business with the hearing aid and the times that Harvey's character goes back to the hotel room without being seen happened all too easily in my view.

That said, it looks great as you would expect from a standard Columbo episode, the script is still deft and assured and the story is wonderfully paced and always interesting with a final solution that had me completely satisfied. The music is memorable too and fits well with the atmosphere and period, and the direction is tight. The acting is great, Peter Falk is stellar and Laurence Harvey brings a more intense and tormented side to his style of acting which made him all the more riveting.

Overall, a very well done episode. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Brief mystery has its moments

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 28 July 2015]

THE MOST DANGEROUS MATCH is a typical episode of Columbo that benefits from a good guest actor and some ferocious moments, particularly in the latter stages. It's a brief mystery which takes over half an hour for the murderer to commit his crime, so the trusty Lieutenant Columbo doesn't have much time to get to grips with him in this one.

The story is set around the world of chess experts which adds a fun and novel slant to the proceedings. Laurence Harvey's mannered performance is very effective, especially when his cool demeanour starts to break down towards the end. The bit where Columbo hounds him at a public chess demonstration is classic viewing but the twist ending is even better and something I didn't see coming. As usual Peter Falk gives a wry turn as the Columbo, and has a few funny moments involving his dog.

Wonderfully tense throughout

[Rosabel · 9/10 · 20 November 1999]

It is a delight to watch Laurence Harvey as a neurotic chess player, who schemes to murder the opponent he cannot defeat at the chessboard. This movie has wonderful pacing and several cliffhanger moments, as Harvey's plot several times seems on the point of failure or exposure, but he manages to beat the odds yet again. Columbo wages a skilful war of nerves against this high-strung genius, and the scene where he manages to rattle him enough to cause him to make a mistake while playing chess is one of the highlights of the movie, as Harvey looks down in disbelief at the board, where he has just allowed himself to be checkmated. The climax is almost as strong, and watching Laurence Harvey collapse completely as his scheme is exposed brings the movie to a satisfying finish. Highly recommended.

Laurence Harvey was great here. I think Clayton was mentally ill or had a brain tumor.

[reb-warrior · 7/10 · 12 March 2022]

It's not exactly my favorite episode mainly because I think the murderer is mentally ill. He almost has what seems similar to PTSD, where he has nightmares and wakes up in cold sweats. He seems to hear voices in his head. He has extreme rage and emotions. In the real world, he might have been tested to see if he had a brain tumor. I think it's more reasonable than believing someone would commit murder because he doesn't want to lose a chess match. But maybe that's just me.

That said, Laurence Harvey was great here as a man who had extreme emotions, yet exuded confidence and was very calm and devious other times. Great performance. Jack Krushen was also very good in his role.

I actually don't think Columbo's conjecture, because that's what it was, that only a deaf man could have tried to kill Dudek would hold up in court. A lawyer could argue the killer pushed Dudek in and ran off right away and therefore didn't hear the machine stop. Or, a lawyer could argue that Dudek did indeed slip and fell in.

The hospital threw out the syringes, but what about the little medicine bottles that Linda brought in? I mean, these were his regular medications, right? Not stuff that was used only once. Where were the bottles so that Columbo could have them tested? Bad plothole here.

What evidence did Columbo really have? A piece of paper that Dudek wrote the note on but didn't sign? Dudek and Clayton hanging out together? Conjecture that only a deaf man could have done it? Linda telling Columbo that Clayton had the list in his hand for a few moments? But wait, Columbo didn't get him for the hospital attempt, did he? So there goes that. It appears Dudek didn't pack his own bag? This is probably the best evidence to suspect foul play. But again, I think a lawyer could still argue he was in an irritational anxious state and just threw whatever in a bag.

I mean, yes, Clayton did it, we saw that. But in my opinion, he never would have been convicted based on this weak evidence. Maybe if Columbo could have proven the hospital attempt, that would have been something.

That being said, the episode is still enjoyable to watch with an as usual a great job by Falk. Laurence Harvey was great. I just think that sometimes in these old mystery tv shows, things don't add up. But we accept the plotholes because we did indeed see the person do it, which makes the speculation and conjecture more plausible, and in fact true to what we saw. It's a kind of viewer manipulation. But we never get to see the other side. Did the DA actually go through with this based on such weak evidence? Was the person actually convicted? We don't know because the writers like their narrative and conclusion. As far as they're concerned, the mystery is solved and that's that. Then again this is just a lighthearted tv show, so...7/10.

"The Most Dangerous Match" (1973)

[Wuchakk · 8/10 · 30 March 2019]

PLOT: A chess master (Laurence Harvey) attempts to murder his Russian opponent (Jack Kruschen) before a big match when it becomes certain that he cannot beat him.

COMMENTARY: This episode obviously revolves around chess playing. I like the creative story angle of the off-record game in the French restaurant. The crumpled detective's pet basset hound appears in a subplot; the dog still has yet to be named ("Dog"). The beautiful Heidi Brühl appears in a peripheral role.

Less than nine months after this episode was released in March, 1973, Harvey was dead from stomach cancer at the premature age of 45, which came as a surprise to him since he was always careful about what he ate.

GRADE: A-

Good Early Columbo

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 15 August 2007]

You can't help wondering what Lieutenant Columbo's first name was, but maybe it's better that we don't know. Suppose it had turned out to be something like "Jason" or "Brad".

In this entry the epic bumbler is thrust into the world of championship-level chess, more specifically the professional enmity that Lawrence Harvey, the reigning champ, feels towards his good-natured challenger, the older Jack Kruschen, playing an obvious Russian. It's an interesting story, a little complicated, there being not just one secret but several of them, involving shoves into giant garbage disposals, tricking the victim into writing a suicide note, switching medicines, setting up a red herring about a flight to Mexico. I suppose all that is to be expected in a story about chess. It's a complicated game. I should know. I was a child genius at chess and once played ten games simultaneously while blindfolded, losing every one.

Something I didn't get comes at the end, though, the climactic reveal. That giant garbage grinder into which Harvey has shoved his opponent shuts off automatically but Harvey doesn't realize it because his hearing aid battery is shot, and he doesn't know the chopper has stopped. Columbo tricks Harvey into demonstrating that, in the absence of his hearing aid, he can't tell the blasted machinery has stopped. And a glow of satisfaction spreads across Columbo's face. But, when you think about it -- so what? Aside from that, plenty of interesting stuff going on. Escargot with garlic in what passes for a French restaurant in L.A. Made me kind of hungry, watching Kruschen stuff himself. Harvey taking a glance at one of those indecipherable doctor's scrips for four or five medicines and immediately memorizing the whole list. Hart Bochner speaking Russian with a gloopy accent. Kruschen flat-lining with a satisfying stomach full of snails with garlic sauce.

Swiss Cheese

[craiglesuk-1 · 1/10 · 30 May 2020]

One of the worst ones. More plot holes than a block of Swiss cheese. Quite ridiculous.

great early Columbo

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 10 December 2005]

Laurence Harvey stars as a win at all costs chess champion in "The Most Dangerous Match," one of the original Columbo episodes. Harvey, number one at the game only because of the illness of the Russian champion (Jack Kruschen) the year before, panics when he plays a practice match with Kruschen and realizes that this year, he will lose his title. He then plots to get rid of his opponent, only to run afoul of the sloppy lieutenant on the case, Columbo.

Harvey is wonderful in the role, a perfect villain for Columbo because he is so opposite -- arrogant, beautifully spoken, and immaculately dressed. He's also brilliant, but he doesn't recognize brilliance in someone posing a greater threat to him than the deceased chess champion - Columbo. Very entertaining.

Chess at a time like no other

[mojorising_you · 8/10 · 7 January 2012]

This episode followed the most important time for chess ever in the United States. In 1972, Bobby Fischer defeated Boris Spassky for the World Chess Title. First American to do so and it had a huge following due to the Cold War back story of The Soviet Union vs. The United States. Chess was never so popular before or since.

The young American, Emmett Clayton (Laurence Harvey, who died months after this episode from stomach cancer) was panic stricken with nightmares (cheezy special effects) about losing to his older Russian counterpart, Tomlin Dudek (Jack Kruschen). He stalks him out as Dudek escapes his handlers and indulges the dietary delights that diabetics crave but must avoid.

They settle in for an impromptu game of chess and some spectacular snails at a french restaurant using some inventive pieces on the checkerboard tablecloth. With Clayton losing and the game finishing up in his hotel room, the embarrassment and anxiety of the impending public match are just too much for him. His only salvation (well for this world) are to get rid of Dudek before the match and claim his superiority. He devises Dudek's defection and accidental death to show Dudek's capitulation without rebuttal or so it would seem.

Nice use of Clayton's deafness in the storyline and his brilliance as a chess player to demonstrate his great memory. I loved the multiple game exhibition to showcase Columbo's undoing of Clayton with his accusations. The tell was the "Fool's Mate" by one of the lesser contestants. I thought using the most well known chess game of all time was funny and a nice bone for the observant, regardless of how unrealistic. Lots in the episode to love if you love chess. Great reference to openings, grandmaster name dropping and trivia facts involving the game for those who play it.

Enjoyable but nothing more than par for the course and may disappoint some (spoiler)

[bob the moo · 2 May 2005]

In the run up to a match with retired champion Tomlin Dudek, chess master Emmett Clayton is plagued by nightmares of defeat. On the eve of the match, Clayton follows Dudek to see how he is preparing and the two end up having a meal together and an informal and impromptu game of chess. Clayton is horrified to find himself trapped in the game and easily taken to checkmate, but the meeting helps him make his mind up quickly – he must kill Dudek. Doing so quickly or cleanly requires all his skills, but he manages to set up the case like a master. The police are called in and everything appears to be clean and easy and it only requires Dudek to recover from his near-fatal injuries to confirm things; while Clayton sweats Dudek's recovery, Columbo gets closer to what he suspects is the truth.

As with many TV film series (such as Perry Mason), if you like one or two of them then you'll pretty much like them all. This entry in the Columbo series pretty much follows the usual formula – we know the killer and the "perfect" plan but then watch Columbo follow his hunch and gradually starts to pick holes in the story he is told before eventually finding enough to prove his suspicions. Saying this is not a spoiler – it is simply what happens in all the films. With this strict adherence to formula it is usually down to several factors whether or not the Columbo film stands out or if it is just average. In this film we take the time over the build up, which leads to much more of a crime of passion than a long planned out murder that we usually see in the series; to some this will drag and keep Columbo out of it but to me it more or less worked. The setting of the characters helps what could have been a pretty weak Columbo. The reason I say this is because the survival of Dudek confuses the formula a little bit without adding the tension that it really should have done, and things are not helped by reducing the time that Columbo has with his suspect considering this is already a very short film at just over 70 minutes.

It works well enough to please fans though, but I must admit not to have been too taken by it myself. It has moments that work well but the cat and mouse stuff just isn't there and I thought the ending was weak compared to some of the better Columbo films. The cast try hard to cover this up; Falk is good but not great as Columbo – his routine is down pat but the material isn't there to help him in this case. Harvey has a great character to work with but I didn't think he had enough time to do much with it; neither is he a match for Columbo, I was hoping that the "chess master" aspect would mean a real battle of wits but this never came out. Support is mostly serviceable, leaving the film in the hands of the lead two – a problem considering the material doesn't work it as well as it should.

Overall this is entertaining but not as good as it could have been and not one of the better of the Columbo series. The formula is in place but somehow it doesn't deliver; the plot lacks teeth, the characters don't go where they should and the dynamics don't work as well as they have in other series. Fans will enjoy it and forgive its shortcomings but this is at best an average entry in the series.

Fatal Move

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 17 July 2006]

**SPOILERS** Obnoxious and narcissist world champion Grand Chess Master Emmett Clyton, Laurence Harvey,is sweating bullets over his upcoming match with former undefeated Russian Chess Master Tomlin Dudek, Jack Kruschen. Clyton knows deep down inside that old man Dudek could easily whip his a** in any chess game that he has with him.

With the big champion game scheduled for the next day Clyton is seen hanging around the hotel trying to get a glimpse of the grand old master. Clyton wants to get an idea of what makes the Russian Chess Master tic and how he can defeat him at the game that he has no equals in having never lost a game of chess since he started playing it when he was six years old.

Dudek noticing Clyton snooping around the hotel lobby get's the young man to follow him outside. Confronting him Dudek offers to treat Clyton to a free meal which is about the best medicine that the thin and scrawny-looking Clyton could have to settle him down. Dudek plays a game of chess with Clyton on the restaurant tablecloth and then takes it back to the hotel, after the restaurant closed, to finish it. To his ultimate shock and horror the self-doubting Clyton is then soundly defeated by the clever and confident Dudek. Going to pieces over his loss Clyton concocts a plan to get rid of Dudek before he can play him in the upcoming world chess match. The plan is to shove Dudek down the hotel garbage shoot, where he'd be compacted to death, and make it look like an accident! or even better, if the body isn't found, look like the Great Tomlin Dudek chickened out and checked out of town to avoid the disgrace of being beaten by the "king of Chess" himself Emmett Clyton.

Watching the movie I at first thought that Clyton was really the super genius that he climes to be. I changed my mind about Clyton's ability when he couldn't figure out that by treating the snail loving Dudek with a couple of orders of snails, smothered in globs of high cholesterol butter and smelly garlic, would be enough to do the trick;in killing the overweight and diabetic Dudek. Then just pushing him down a garbage shoot which he unfortunately, to Clyton shock and surprise, survived!

Let. Columbo, Peter Falk, of the L.A homicide division is called on the case even though Dudek is still alive. Columbo notices a number of things about Dudek's accident that just doesn't check out. He also sees what a strange bird the pompous and arrogant Clyton is when he interviews him about his whereabouts at the time of Dudek's "accident". Lt. Columbo also notices that Clyton is deft and without his hearing aid he couldn't hear an hydrogen bomb go off even it it detonated right on top of his head!

Clyton finding out what medication that the unconscious Dudek was taking, by memorizing it, from a note that Miss. Robinson (Heidi Bruhl), a good friend of both him and Dudek, showed him sneaks into Dudek's empty hotel room. Clyton switches the medication so it would kill instead of cure Dudek when it's injected into his system. Suddenly going into shock and flat-lining as soon as the spiked medication is given to him Dudek is now no longer a threat to Clyton in either beating him in a game of chess or fingering him as the one who tried to murder him.

Clyton for all his smarts made one fatal mistake in his plan to do Dudek in. It all had to do with his hearing aid being broken, and thus not being able to hear anything,at that time he attempted to murder him. It's that fatal error on Clyton's part that Lt. Columbo quickly noticed and in an elaborate reenactment of the event had the cockily smug and condescending, to Lt. Columbo, Clyton lose his cool. That together with him being soundly beaten by an outright armature, in a 30 man chess game, completely destroy Clyton's alibi in not having anything to do with Dudek's accident and later murder.

Does Columbo miss an obvious clue?

[richard-fritzson · 8/10 · 19 October 2012]

I enjoyed this episode, but there comes a point 54 minutes in where Columbo and Clayton are discussing the game which began in the restaurant. Columbo repeats the waiter's assertion that Dudek pushed out the salt and then Clayton pushed out the pepper so Columbo assumed that Clayton played black (pepper). Clayton says "No." but, of course, he *was* black and it was obvious because Dudek played first and white always plays first. And this exposes Clayton's lie that he won the match.

The moment we heard this exchange I assumed that, at some point, Columbo would realize it was a lie, but it never comes up again.

I'm not a chess player but even I know that white plays first. Isn't this something of a large hole in the script?

The Chess Master

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 21 February 2016]

Laurence Harvey stars as neurotic chess master Emmett Clayton, who is having nightmares about an upcoming match with an older and revered rival, a kindly Russian named Tomlin Dudek(played by Jack Kruschen). They meet in secret at a French restaurant, and using table items(like salt and pepper shakers) have an unusual chess match that Emmett loses, causing him to go into a panic, and who then comes up with an elaborate plot to kill him, but Lt. Columbo(Peter Falk) of course is suspicious, and so a different sort of chess match plays out between the detective and the suspect. Good mystery with the two stars well matched, leading to a clever climax.

One of the best acted of the Columbo episodes

[garrard · 8/10 · 9 April 2006]

Featuring a cast that includes Laurence Harvey, veteran actor Jack Kruschen, and Lloyd Bochner, along with star Peter Falk, "The Most Dangerous Game" ranks as one of the TOP TEN Columbo installments. Harvey soars as a self-centered chess master whose ego won't let him be defeated by his arch-rival, Krushen as a Russian champion. Harvey, an actor that seemed always on the verge of stardom, plays his part with relish, especially in the last few exchanges between himself and Falk. The "denouement" is one of the few times when an "expletive" is heard in a "Columbo" installment.

Of course, the storyline reflects the Cold War thinking that permeated much of the world at the time, and it's a bit quaint to see the mistrust between American and Soviet bodyguards to both chess players.

An added bonus for the show is the intriguing camera-work and large props used in a dream sequence.

Could have been better!

[Sylviastel · 7/10 · 19 May 2006]

Columbo's Most Dangerous Match is about chess. An unlikely subject or motive for murder in my opinion. The star is Manchurian Candidate's Lawrence Harvey who plays a deaf chess champion. He is terrified of losing and will do anything to maintain his status as world chess champion. His competitor is a Russian chess champion who unlike Lawrence Harvey's character is well-regarded and loved instead. He lures him into an unusual trap to prevent him from defeating. Columbo always knows how to work a prime suspect and does it by being fascinated in their work particularly chess. One of Columbo's trademarks is that he gets interested in the character's passion and in this one, it's chess. He finds it a hell of game with a lot to lose on each side. You have to know that it's kind of hard watching Columbo catch this one. You almost feel sorry for him and in that, Lawrence Harvey gives a memorable performance since his role in the Manchurian Candidate.

Tension and suspense, great episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 25 February 2024]

A chess match between two of the greats, Emmett Clayton and Tomlin Dudek is set to take place, but on the very eve of the match, the pair socialise together, but one them has murder on their mind.

Definitely my favourite episode from the second series, I thoroughly enjoyed this one from start to finish.

It's a wonderful game of cat and mouse, and this time Columbo has very strong reasons for having suspicions about the killer, there are a few clues he spots along the way.

The plot is as slick and smart as Clayton's hair.

What makes this one particularly good, is that the eventual murder victim is a really sympathetic, decent and generally nice character, the killer is a real creep and a coward.

Laurence Harvey puts in a first class performance as Clayton, he's so good, so menacing, he's such a cold character. Jack Kruschen excellent also.

9/10.

Evidence comes too late

[clodax2002 · 7/10 · 17 June 2007]

How could a man survive after being crushed by a trash compactor?

The hospital doctors, the police, and Columbo himself apparently didn't notice that, and didn't try to explain the reason why. Is that because the trash compactor stops automatically for security reasons? Yeah, got it! But...

Evidence comes too late, this time, for such an intelligent mind like yours, dear Columbo...

The hand-written Dudek's lines in Russian (and Clayton had luck Dudek didn't add something like "my darling" or "honey" eh eh): OK, Columbo can demonstrate where that ink comes from, but can't explain the content of such lines ... Was Dudek forced to write, or blackmailed? Did Clayton employ some trickery to convince his enemy to write those lines? Perhaps what lacks here, dear Lt. Columbo, is a little deeper insight into the romantic affair between Clayton and the Russian girl.

Apart from that, some very enjoyable scenes (Columbo's dog and the chess match in the restaurant above all): 7/10.

Cool Columbo Crushes Craven Chess Champion

[ShootingShark · 5/10 · 11 October 2008]

Emmett Clayton is a chess champion terrified of losing his number one ranking to a great rival, Tomlin Dudek. When he loses a casual pre-match game, Clayton decides there is only one way to ensure Dudek doesn't win, and Columbo has a murder to solve.

This is a good idea for a Columbo story; chess grandmasters are by nature brilliant, calculating and fiercely competitive, so to have one strategically kill another pits our dogged hero against a formidable mind. However, as with most of the earlier Columbo stories, this one is a little lacking in the humour and nuance that make the best ones so enjoyable. The final scene is a doozy however, and there are plenty of crafty baiting moments along the way. Harvey is good if not great as the hard-of-hearing chess champ, but jolly fat man Kruschen has a lot of fun with his role up until his unfortunate demise. Chess fans (of which I am one) will enjoy the references, and Falk is shrewd and steady as ever, but this is only a minor entry in the Columbo filmography. It's still a fine little TV crime thriller by anyone's standards though.