PEOPLE

By Belinda Luscombe

PAWN TAKES MASTER

"I just sat down, looked and understood," says ETIENNE BACROT, 14, of his first encounter with chess. Even at 4, he felt a certain je ne sais quoi about the checkered board. He was 7 when he had his first official win, and now, with years of two-hours-a-day practice behind him, he has become the youngest chess grandmaster ever, beating Canadian grandmaster Kevin Spraggett, 42, at a tournament in France. He can't best world champion Garry Kasparov yet, but he warns, "I'm getting closer." Says his trainer, Iosif Dorfman: "He does much better than Kasparov at the same age."

SEEN & HEARD

Never kick a man while he's in rehab. It's a painful lesson learned by the New York Daily News after it erroneously reported that Robert Downey Jr. was at the Mondrian hotel's so-cool-the-staff-is-icy Sky Bar in L.A. Problem I: Downey's on parole and isn't allowed in bars. Problem II: Downey was on set in Savannah, Georgia. Solution: Downey's suing the Daily News.

He doesn't have an agent yet, but former Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun will make his movie debut in Steven Spielberg's Amistad. The role isn't a stretch: he plays former Justice Joseph Story. Without the aid of a p.r. rep, Blackmun released a statement saying he was honored to be "in Mr. Spielberg's significant film about our nation's struggle with slavery."

MOVE OVER, MADONNA, HERE'S DOLLY

DOLLY PARTON's brand of music doesn't normally conjure up images of a crowded club full of sweaty bodies gyrating until dawn. But that may change now that the singer who makes Antoni Gaudi's buildings look tame has had a few cuts off her latest album, Treasures, remixed as dance tunes. The deed was done by Junior Vasquez, a New York City nightclub fixture and producer, who says the first cut, Peace Train, is already a big hit at Arena, the club where he's a deejay. "If I don't play it, they start shouting for it from the dance floor," Vasquez says. "Now I'm hoping she'll perform for gay-pride week as well." The video was made by Christopher Ciccone, still most famous for being Madonna's brother but slowly making a name in the dance-video business as well. The idea of juxtaposing Dolly's bubbly singing and the rhythm-heavy grooves of the nocturnal crowd belongs to Kyle Utley, president of Flip-It Records, and Parton's just one of the artists he has in his sights. Also on his hit list: a funked-up remix of Rickie Lee Jones' Living It Up; and a song, Relax!, with Zsa Zsa Gabor.

THE REALLY LITTLE PRINCE

The artist's son now known as Prince has made his long-awaited first appearance, and it didn't come cheap. PRINCE MICHAEL JACKSON JR. earned more than $2 million for sleeping. That's what Dad reportedly charged the British tabloid OK! for photos of Prince, named after JACKO's maternal grandpa. The money is said to be going to charity. Inside the magazine, mom DEBBIE ROWE says of her husband, "Fatherhood has brought out a very protective streak in him." Jacko, who also sold the photos to the National Enquirer, says, "I want my son to live a normal life." Nice start.

THE STATUETTE OF LIBERALITY

Oscar has made his annual visitation, snarling Los Angeles traffic and creating celebrity gridlock in the nation's media. Although the ceremony stretched long, there were a few awards the Academy neglected to hand out. Here, then, are some of the presentations you didn't see on TV.

Best entrance: WOODY HARRELSON, who pulled up in a white stretch limo painted with naked women. He was accompanied by LARRY FLYNT, who had earlier been denied a ticket. Harrelson, resplendent in an Armani tuxedo made of hemp (although it looked like every other tux), got Flynt in. Flynt's glitter-encrusted tux, meanwhile, didn't look like anyone else's.

Almost convincingly relieved nonwinners: Emily Watson from Breaking the Waves, who partied late and said she "would have gone to pieces if I'd won. I'm quite glad I didn't." (Yeah, right.) And RALPH FIENNES, who was in such a cheery mood that he sat at the Vanity Fair party with girlfriend FRANCESCA ANNIS on his lap.

Maybe that makeup was too good award: Matthew Mungle and Deborah La Mia Denaver, who made up James Woods as Byron de la Beckwith for Ghosts of Mississippi. When Best Supporting Actor nominee Woods arrived at the Governor's Ball, the doormen didn't recognize him and briefly barred his party.

Best acceptance speech: Cuba Gooding Jr. gets an A for spontaneity and effort, but JAN SVERAK, director of Kolya from the Czech Republic, made a cuter speech, talking to Oscar as if he were a newly adopted son.

The Barbra award for good sportsmanship: David Letterman, for making fun of his own panned stint as Oscar host.

The fashion forward award: To NICOLE KIDMAN, Jenny McCarthy, Lauren Holly and COURTNEY LOVE, all of whose dresses happened to be featured in the issue of Vogue that came out last week.

The special family values award: Carrie Fisher, who described the scene backstage this way: "It was fun. I got to introduce Al Pacino and Tom Cruise to my mother's breasts. She was very proud." (Mom DEBBIE REYNOLDS wore a low-cut gown.)

EYE OF NEWT, MOUTH OF CROW

Just when you thought you'd seen enough milk-mustache ads to make you lactose intolerant, along come the wags at Comedy Central to milk the image some more. In a parody that will appear in the normally rather sober Advertising Age trade magazine, NEWT GINGRICH, bearing a feather mustache, gives his advice on eating crow. "The key is start early. With just a few feathers a day," says the copy. "Then when the time comes to swallow the whole bird, you won't gag a bit." The American Dairy Association isn't a Comedy Central advertiser, but its sister organization, the California Milk Advisory Board, is. Let's hope it isn't a big account.