Post #3473157

There are two interesting chess documentaries released to Netflix in 2026. They're both pretty interesting. First is Queen of Chess, a documentary about Judit Polgar. She was one of three Hungarian sisters who were a sort of "experiment" by their father to show that nurture rather than nature was the determining factor in expert success. I also loved that she has an amazing attacking game. The story centers on her quest to defeat Garry Kasparov, which she eventually does, marking the first time the world's top woman's player defeats the world's top men's player. Second is sort of a sad story of a young man who is very talented but honestly a terrible person. Hans Moke Niemann is the worst of gaming culture brought to top-level chess. The documentary covers the 2022 cheating scandal but also paints Hans as a sort of archvillain. I learned he left home as a teenager to live in NY by himself and spent years just playing chess online and streaming. The documentary is interesting because it has interviews with Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura and a lot of footage from chess events. #chess