In Moscow during the world chess tournament of 1925, the hero (Vladimir Fogel) and heroine (Anna Zemtsova) of the story are engaged to be married. Caught up in a society-wide chess fever, the hero forgets about his martial obligations and must beg for her forgiveness. As he kneels before his dismayed fiancée on a checkered cloth, the hero becomes distracted and starts to play chess. Enraged, the heroine throws his chess themed belongings out of the window and forces him to leave. Now separated, the heroine finds herself at a pharmacy, intending to obtain poison to kill herself. Meanwhile, the hero dejectedly sits on a bridge above a river, throwing what's left of his chess possessions into the water. Rather than throwing himself off the bridge as well, he realizes the importance of love and resolves to find the heroine and apologize. It is at this time that the heroine raises what she thinks is a vial of poison to her lips. However, she is stopped when she realizes that she was mistakenly given a chess piece by the distracted chemist. The heroine's distress is interrupted by World Chess Champion José Raúl Capablanca, who tells her that, in the company of a beautiful woman, he too hates chess. The two become friends and drive off as the hero arrives. The hero, with nothing left to do but return to chess, attends the tournament. Looking into the crowd, he is shocked to find his fiancée excitedly watching the game. He runs to her and the two embrace, united by their love for chess, and the film ends with them playing the game together.