When does Chess Masters: The Endgame start?
Chess Masters: The Endgame launches 10 March on BBC Two and iPlayer.
Chess Masters: The Endgame comes to BBC Two on Monday 10 March at 8pm.
The show’s creators say the show will do for chess what Bake Off did for baking. Sue Perkins hosts what the BBC are calling a “high-stakes chess contest”. In it, 12 rising stars of the UK’s booming chess community battle it out via a gauntlet of brain-bending puzzles and nail-biting eliminators to be crowned champion.
In the first of two heats, six talented players from across the UK arrive at Cardiff’s former coal exchange. They face a brain-boggling puzzle and a high-stakes speed chess battle, where each game lasts for ten minutes.
Sue says: “I’m so excited to be hosting Chess Masters, where twelve talented amateurs from across Britain are pitted against one another in the world’s oldest game.
“It’s all about psychology, strategy, smart thinking, and nerves of steel. Chess that is, not my job (which usually involves the opposite). I’m there to help us understand what’s going on in the players’ heads and make sense of what’s happening on the board. We’ve been waiting over 30 years to see chess back on our TV screens. Chess Masters will make that wait worth while.”
In addition, keep an eye on proceedings and providing expert commentary will be three-time British chess champion and grandmaster David Howell; and expert chess coach and former Traitors contestant Anthony Mathurin.
David says: “I'm extremely excited to be part of Chess Masters. Chess has been a huge part of my life, and I cannot wait to invite viewers into the subtleties and intrigues of the game, as well as introducing them to the chess community. We have the perfect selection of contestants, reflecting the fact that chess is a game for everyone.
“It will be an honour to work alongside Sue, Anthony, Curve Media, and the BBC to bring chess to UK screens for the first time in decades!”
Anthony says: “I am exhilarated and incredibly excited to showcase and deep dive into the intense inner psychological battle of competitive chess with a twist of the unexpected. Let the games begin!”
All3Media International executive vice-president of formats and licensing Nick Smith also tells Broadcast: “We have a contestant who learned to play in prison, another in a war zone, another battling a serious illness, and one who became obsessed after watching The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix.”
Chess is the fastest growing sport in the world, with a chess app the most downloaded app from the iPhone store in February 2023.