Pick this if you like sports stories built around one person’s ambitions. Rory Kennedy follows Judit Polgár’s rise in competitive chess and her pursuit of a win against Garry Kasparov. The rivalry gives the film a clear through-line as it explores what it took for Polgár to compete at the top of a male-dominated game.
Judit Polgár and the pursuit of a win
Queen of Chess follows Hungarian grandmaster Judit Polgár from her early years as a chess prodigy into elite competition. The documentary uses her pursuit of a victory over world champion Garry Kasparov to give that longer career a central rivalry.
Director Rory Kennedy places that pursuit alongside the resistance Polgár encountered as a woman competing at the highest level. The film’s sporting story and its account of who was expected to succeed in chess are closely linked.
Festival and streaming release
The film premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and reached Netflix on February 6. The Netflix title page identifies the full feature and the service requires a subscription.
