José Raúl Capablanca as The World Champion

Vladimir Fogel as The Hero

Anna Zemtsova as The Heroine

Natalya Glan as

Zakhar Darevsky as

Mikhail Zharov as House Painter

Anatoli Ktorov as Tram Passenger

Yakov Protazanov as Chemist

Yuli Raizman as Chemist's Assistant

Ivan Koval-Samborskyi as Policeman

Konstantin Eggert as

Ernst Grunfeld as Self

Fyodor Ivanov as

Sergei Komarov as Grandfather

Frank Marshall as Self

Richard Reti as Self

Rudolph Spielmann as Self

Carlos Torre as Self

F.D. Yates as Self

Boris Barnet as (uncredited)

Vladimir Nabokov as (uncredited)

Fyodor Otsep as Game Spectator (uncredited)