Movie

Queen of Chess

2026 · 93 min

A gripping, human portrait of a prodigy battling a rigid world, mixing archival tension with intimate family drama.

Directed by: Rory Kennedy
Genres: Documentary
Starring: Judit Polgár, Garry Kasparov, László Polgár

Overview: A Hungarian girl dreams of conquering international men’s chess. After a 15-year battle against world champion Garry Kasparov and her domineering father, Judit Polgár revolutionizes the sport’s patriarchal culture to become one of the greatest chess prodigies in history and the greatest woman chess player of all time.

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Directed by: Rory Kennedy
Genres: Documentary
Starring: Judit Polgár, Garry Kasparov, László Polgár

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone: earneststrength 2 of 3
tensestrength 2 of 3
upliftingstrength 2 of 3
melancholicstrength 1 of 3
Pacing: measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: gender
ambition
family
identity
power
Places: home
big city
Era: contemporary
Audience: teen
Form: documentary
true story
serialised
Content intensity: Gore none
Language mild
Violence none
Sex none

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	2
Horror	0
Humour	3
Realism	10
Romance	1
Tension	6
Darkness	3
Complexity	5
Emotional weight	7

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Where to watch in the UK

Stream

Netflix

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres: documentary
Directed by: Rory Kennedy
Starring: Judit Polgár, Garry Kasparov, László Polgár, Sofia Polgár, Klára Polgár, Gustáv Font, Anna Rudolf, Jovanka Houska
Music: Chris Brocato, Camilo Forero
Cinematography: Imre Juhász
Runtime: 93 min
Country: United States of America
Languages: English, Hungarian

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Queen of Chess

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