Austria, 1938. The Viennese bon vivant Dr. Josef Bartok (Oliver Masucci) refuses to acknowledge the danger posed by the Nazis' rise to power. It is not until shortly before the "Anschluss" to the German Reich that he decides to flee. While his wife Anna (Birgit Minichmayr) manages to escape, Bartok falls into the hands of the fascists. Gestapo officer Bohm (Albrecht Schuch) wants to force the notary, through solitary confinement, to reveal the numbered accounts of wealthy clients: no conversation, nothing to read, no occupation. Days, weeks, and months pass. As Bartok's resilience wanes, he gets his hands on a book about chess games. This unexpected nourishment for his starved mind triggers a chess fever - and draws him into new abysses. His first chess match against an opponent takes place months later on the voyage into exile. Aboard Owen McConnor's (Rolf Lassgard) cruise ship, Bartok meets the reigning world champion Czentovic (Albrecht Schuch), whose manager Koller (Samuel Finzi) arranges a game. Now begins a match that threatens to break Bartok.