Is chess a sport? That is a discussion that has taken place for generations, thanks to the fact that organised chess first began to emerge in the 19th century.

In 1999, the International Olympic Committee recognised chess as a sport in spite of the fact that the nature of it is significantly more mental than it is physical. That being said, there is an argument that it is much more likely to get your blood pumping than some other sports, thanks to the tension that is often involved.

Regardless, there are numerous reasons why you might want to watch a documentary about it, with the following worth your consideration.

Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine

• Format: Feature-length documentary film
• First Released: 2003
• Length: 1 hour 24 minutes
• UK Age Rating: PG
• Watch in the UK: Available free on YouTube. Used Region 2 DVD copies are also available from online sellers.
• Content Warning: Contains flashing lights and strobing patterns.

In 1996, Garry Kasparov was the highest-rated chess player ever, at the time at least, and went up against a computer called Deep Blue in a chess match. The machine had been especially created by IBM to beat the 15-time World Champion, so Kasparov agreed to a rematch the following year.

Playing with white pieces in the first game, he won easily. In the second game, he was struggling but set a trap that most players fall for, only for Deep Blue to avoid it and win in order to level things up. The next three games ended in draws, with Kasparov starting to weaken emotionally as a result.

It was in the sixth game that Deep Blue emerged victorious, marking the first time ever that a computer had managed to defeat a World Champion in a match lasting for several games. The documentary details the match between the two, as well as Kasparov’s accusations that IBM had cheated and used a human player in order to boost the strategic strength of Deep Blue.

It is a nail-biting documentary, which weaves in the story of the Turk, which was a hoax involving an 18th-century chess-playing automaton that was securely operated by human beings, so as to bolster Kasparov’s cheat accusations.

Magnus

• Format: Feature-length documentary film
• First Released: 2016
• Length: 1 hour 15 minutes
• UK Age Rating: U
• Watch in the UK: Available with an Amazon Prime Video subscription. It can also be watched free with adverts through Amazon Prime Video and YouTube, rented through Amazon Video, Apple TV Store or Rakuten TV, or purchased through Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Rakuten TV or Sky Store. DVD and Blu-ray copies are also available.
• Languages and Subtitles: Features Norwegian and English dialogue, with English captions available.

Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen, better known by most simply as Magnus, became a chess Grandmaster when he was just 13. Unsurprisingly, that was seen as reason enough for Benjamin Ree to make a documentary about his early life, with the Norwegian prodigy, who was born in 1990, featuring in his development over the course of a decade.

Beginning in 2004, it goes through until 2014, meaning that his success in the World Chess Championship of 2013 is captured in all of its glory. He also went on to defend his title the following year, winning against Viswanathan Anand both times.

The documentary is helped by the fact that Carlsen’s father, presumably having an instinct about the genius that his son was capable of, began recording interviews with him from an early age.

Some criticisms of the film have suggested that the documentary wasn’t sure whether it wanted to be about Magnus the person or Magnus the player, almost falling between two stools on that front. That being said, it is very much a documentary that is likely to fit into the category of being interesting for both long-term chess players and also those that know little to nothing about the game.

Me and Bobby Fischer

• Format: Feature-length documentary film
• First Released: 2009
• Length: 1 hour 22 minutes
• Watch in the UK: Available free on YouTube.

Robert James Fischer, better known to most as Bobby, was a chess Grandmaster and also became the 11th World Chess Champion. His first win of a record eight US Championships came when he was just 14, then in 1964 he won 11-0, which is the only perfect score in the competition’s history.

In 1975, he decided he didn’t want to defend his title when no agreement could be reached with the sport’s governing body, allowing Anatoly Karpov to win instead. In 1992, he agreed to a rematch against Boris Spassky, to be played in Yugoslavia, which was the subject of a US embargo at the time.

That put him at odds with the government of the United States of America, seeing him move to Japan before being arrested there for using a licence that had been revoked by the US government. The documentary film follows the efforts of his old friend, Saemundur Palsson, as he helps Fischer to escape from Japan and move to Iceland. T

he film takes in the final years of his life, with Fischer dying in 2008, never shying away from his more controversial moments. Declaring that he hated chess towards the end of his life, it is a fascinating look at how someone’s life work can so quickly turn against them.

Closing Gambit: Korchnoi versus Karpov and the Kremlin

• Format: Feature-length documentary film
• First Released: 2018
• Length: 1 hour 25 minutes
• UK Age Rating: Exempt from classification on the UK DVD; Amazon Prime Video applies a 13+ rating.
• Watch in the UK: Available with an Amazon Prime Video subscription. It can also be rented or purchased through Amazon Video and Apple TV Store. A Region 2 DVD is available.
• Subtitles: English closed captions are available on Amazon Prime Video.
• Content Warnings: Prime Video lists violence, alcohol use, smoking, language and flashing or strobing patterns.

There are few periods in history that capture the imagination quite like the Cold War, which is encapsulated brilliantly in Closing Gambit: Korchnoi versus Karpov and the Kremlin. Made in 2018, it is a documentary about the World Chess Championship of 1978, which pitted a Soviet loyalist in the form of Anatoly Karpov against Viktor Korchnoi, who had defected from the Soviet Union.

The film looks into the espionage of the Cold War, as well as the psychological warfare that took place and the numerous bizarre tactics that both sides employed as the chess match became a proxy war for the USSR itself.

As the match reached its climax, it had become a global spectacle, looking at not just the game of chess itself but also the ideology of Russia versus the West. The Kremlin viewed the match as a fight for the national pride of the country, taking on someone that was perceived to be a traitor.

The documentary does well to use real events in order to highlight the intrigue, betrayal and spycraft that was used in what was a political drama played out over a chessboard. The truth of the battle between the two players was one that is considered stranger than fiction, making it about so much more than just the chess moves.

Algorithms

• Format: Feature-length documentary film
• First Released: 2012
• Length: 1 hour 40 minutes
• UK Age Rating: U
• Watch in the UK: Available to rent or purchase through Apple TV Store. An imported Region 1 DVD is also listed on Amazon UK but requires a compatible or multi-region player.
• Languages and Subtitles: Features English, Hindi, Tamil and Odia dialogue, with English subtitles.
• Accessibility: The imported First Run Features DVD includes optional audio description.
• Presentation: Filmed in black and white.

There are many who believe that chess as a game was invented in India, so this documentary immediately feels as though it is based in the spiritual home of the sport. There, a group of boys all dream of being a Grandmaster one day, spurred on to their mission by a teacher with a vision.

In and of itself, that might already sound interesting enough to have caught your attention, but that doesn’t even come close to telling the full story. Filmed across three years from just prior to a competition in Sweden in 2009 until just after the next one in Greece in 2011, this film challenges everything you know about chess.

That is because the boys are all blind, taking part in the World Junior Blind Chess Championship. The teacher is a blind chess player who is acting as a pioneer, trying to encourage all blind children in India to play chess. The film follows the boys not only in the competitions that they play, but also to their homes, where they reveal their hopes and dreams for the future.

It looks at the algorithms of the film’s title that play out in the blind chess world, working to show the audience more than just sight and the story on offer, promising a journey through what it means to have both foresight and actual sight.

Brooklyn Castle

• Format: Feature-length documentary film
• First Released: 2012
• Length: 1 hour 41 minutes
• UK Age Rating: U
• Watch in the UK: Available with an Amazon Prime Video subscription. It can be watched free with adverts through Tubi, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube, or free through JustWatch TV. It can also be rented or purchased through Amazon Video and Apple TV Store. A Region 1 DVD import is available.
• Subtitles: English captions for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers are available.

A school in the middle of Brooklyn, New York, might not seem like the sort of place that regularly produces chess champions, but that is precisely what Intermediate School 318 has done. Made in 2012, Brooklyn Castle spends time with the after-school chess program, which has consistently outperformed others in order to produce the most winning junior high school chess teams in the entirety of the United States. The dedication of the teachers as well as the supportive nature of the community have allowed the program to overcome the likes of deep budget cuts to ensure it remains a winning one.

As you can probably imagine, this is a film that is full of emotional moments and drama, thanks in no small part to the highs and lows that the chess team goes through both in and out of the classroom. Everything from fundraising events to the election of a class president gets covered, all whilst showing how chess can transform the likes of young people in exactly the same way as more physically demanding sports are able to do. It is rated as a U, so if you have any young people in your life that you’d like to get interested in chess, then this might be a good place to start.