Checkmate, Netflix: Queen of Chess Is the Biographical Documentary You Didn’t Know You Needed - WATCH TRAILER

Sliding into the spotlight this winter is Queen of Chess, the new Netflix documentary about Judit Polgár, the woman who didn’t just play the game, she rewrote its rules. Premiering at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and streaming on Netflix February 6, 2026, this is more than a deep dive into chess history, it’s an exhilarating underdog story, delivered with style, grit and archival visuals that make a rook move look cinematic.

At first glance, Queen of Chess might seem like another sports documentary tucked into Netflix’s sprawling docket, but it quickly becomes clear that this isn’t about pawns and queens on a board. It’s about breaking barriers in a male-dominated arena long before gender equity became buzzword policy. The film chronicles Polgár’s meteoric rise from a 12-year-old chess prodigy in Hungary to a force who became the greatest female player in history, challenging giants like Garry Kasparov and smashing age and gender records along the way.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Rory Kennedy, Queen of Chess leans into interviews with Polgár herself, her family and key figures from the chess world, charting her evolution from a fiercely driven child to a nuanced champion who transformed the sport’s cultural landscape. There’s a smart blend here of archival footage, including previously unseen clips and personal reflections that inject warmth and complexity into what could easily have been a dry biographical display.

Queen of Chess. Judit Polgár in Queen of Chess. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026

For longtime chess fans, the documentary is a satisfying tribute to one of the game’s most formidable figures. For everyone else, it’s an absorbing character study about ambition, resilience, and legacy. If you came for chess culture, you’ll stay for the human story: the pressure, the triumphs and yes, the moments that make you sit up and rethink what you thought you knew about competition.

By the time the credits roll, Queen of Chess has done what the best documentaries do, it entertains, educates and leaves you itching to learn more about its subject. Whether you’re a strategist with an ELO rating or someone who thought a knight was a fancy horse, this film gives you a compelling reason to care about the game and the groundbreaking woman who mastered it.