Alessandro Nivola, David Oyelowo and Jon Abrahams have recently signed on to star in Jerry Zaks feature biopic Chess. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the script for Chess was written by Peter Wortmann and Bob Conte and is being produced by Jonathan Mitchell, Les Alexander and Andrea Baynes through Checkmate Productions.

Chess is a story that chronicles the life of Leonard Chess (Nivola), a self-made music impresario and renowned record company executive who brought blues into the public eye and jump-started the careers of some of the music industry's biggest names, including Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry.

Chess is scheduled to start filming April 7th on location in New Orleans.