Remember the Chinese fable of the mighty emperor who agreed to give a wily supplicant one grain of rice for the first square on a chess board, double that for the second square, double again for the third and so on, before he realised that he would be giving away his whole kingdom's supply before the board was half-finished.

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Fill up on organic blueberries and heirloom tomatoes at the Union Square Greenmarket, then wander past the students and chess-players in Washington Square Park to linger over cappuccino in an old-fashioned Italian pavement cafe on Bleecker Street, or cool off Middle-Eastern style with hummus, mint-studded lemonade and chilled salads at Hummus Place (88 MacDougall St).

BBC: Summer in the city: New York

Ben Kingsley is the instinct-squelching teacher, who passes his own fear and loathing about winning and losing to his student, while Laurence Fishburne is the intuitive one, a Washington Square Park speed-chess freak who inspires exuberant invention.

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