美丽的女记者凯西因为一场采访和国际知名的象棋选手皮特（克里斯多弗·兰伯特 Christopher Lambert 饰）坠入了情网之中，哪知道一夜销魂之后，竟然香消玉损。警方找来了心理学家嘉福（黛安·莲恩 Diane Lane 饰）参与调查此案，希望她的专业知识能够带给这宗扑朔迷离的案件一个全新的视角。 　　警方将案件的嫌疑锁定在了皮特的身上，嘉福隐姓埋名想要接近皮特，却被前者识破。之后，凶案再度发生，凶手在作案现场留下了线索向嘉福发出了挑战。在确定了彼得并无嫌疑之后，嘉福决定帮助他重获清白，在此过程中，两人之间碰撞出了爱情的火花。A chess grandmaster is in a big tournament, and when his lover is found painted up and the blood drained out of her body he becomes a chief suspect. After he gets a call from the killer urging him to try and figure out the game, he cooperates with police and a psychologist to try and catch the killer, but doubts linger about the grandmaster's innocence as the string of grisly murders continues.