King's Gambit

Street Games

Several days in the lives, and profiles of, the owners and players of the open air street chess tables in downtown San Francisco. An informative and insightful portrait of a freely public, yet effectively anonymous, subculture: a unique and colorful patch of eccentric americana in the urban quilt of an international city. —Anonymous

Bobby Fischer Against the World

2011 · ★ 6.8

The first documentary feature to explore the tragic and bizarre life of the late chess master Bobby Fischer.

The Revolution That Wasn't

2009 · ★ 10

With capitalism and corruption becoming more entrenched in Russia, a father and his teenage son gear up for a yearlong political campaign to unseat President Putin in the 2008 elections and shift the country back toward socialism. Aliona Polunina's thoughtful documentary follows Anatoly and Andrei in their struggle to recreate a revolutionary fervor in a society that seems to be embracing the materialist values of the West.

Queen of Chess

2026 · ★ 7.5

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.

Karpov Kasparov - Two Kings for a Crown

2014 · ★ 8.3

Interwoven portraits of Anatoli Karpov and Garry Kasparov, whose 25-year bitter rivalry accompanied the fall of the USSR. The story of a duel between two chess giants, fighting a personal war in a world gone to ruin. This battle of black and white was more than a face-off over a chessboard. Part psychological drama, part political thriller, the film brings to life their hostilities, nested like Russian dolls. Karpov vs. Kasparov represents the battle between the faltering empire and the young liberals several steps ahead of the game, checkmating the old guard. Or how two stories – the societal one and the personal one – started out separately and ended up superimposed, twining together into one tale.

Algorithms

2013

Four blind Indian boys compete to become chess masters.

ZUGZWANG

Through the eyes of International Chess Master Paul Cassidy, this documentary traces a lifetime of strategy, triumph, and heartbreak, from representing Ireland on the world stage to confronting the loss that nearly ended his career, and ultimately rediscovering joy through the enduring support of the Dun Laoghaire Chess Club.

Mind Games - The Experiment

2023 · ★ 4.4

Can exercise sharpen the brightest minds? In this ground-breaking experiment, four world-class gamers, competing in eSports, Chess, Mahjong and Memory Games, put this to the test.

Rey Ardid: La gran partida

2013

No synopsis available.

Brooklyn Castle

2012 · ★ 6.8

Brooklyn Castle is a documentary about I.S. 318 – an inner-city school where more than 65 percent of students are from homes with incomes below the federal poverty level – that also happens to have the best, most winning junior high school chess team in the country. (If Albert Einstein, who was rated 1800, were to join the team, he’d only rank fifth best.) Chess has transformed the school from one cited in 2003 as a “school in need of improvement” to one of New York City’s best. But a series of recession-driven public school budget cuts now threaten to undermine those hard-won successes.

A Collection of Images From My Last Year of Naivety

2024

Three weeks to make three films. Filmed in my last semester before College. "Time", "One Night", "8x8".

Madwoman's Game

2026

Follows the journey of a young Latina chess enthusiast, Bianca Mitchell-Avila, as she explores life's lessons through the lens of the game.