There was no scarcity of media exploring the cinematic potential of chess, from “Queen of Katwe” to “Pawn Sacrifice.” Nonetheless, few have demonstrated the depth of the game greater than director Rory Kennedy’s documentary, “Queen of Chess.” Given its sedentary nature, the place the shifting round of plastic items on a board is punctuated solely by the regular tapping of the clock, you’d be forgiven for pondering it’s extra cerebral than corporeal, however there’s a toll it takes on the physique and thoughts.
It’s a sport the place the road between victory and loss is measured one sq. at a time and the place you’re already behind when you’re solely pondering two strikes forward of your opponent. As somebody says within the movie, chess is a sport of “infinite chance.” A match serves to tame infinity, distilling the quite a few methods a sport can go right into a streamlined set of strikes that contain luck, technique, and notion.
For that cause, Kennedy’s rhapsodic path is an applicable pairing along with her topic: Hungarian grandmaster Judit Polgár. Because the movie reveals, Polgár’s taking part in fashion was one marked by a relentless but genteel aggression; as somebody remarks, she “turned opponents into pitiful victims.” On the identical time, an grownup Polgár is introspective as she displays upon her unconventional upbringing and onerous street to success. “Queen of Chess” embodies each sentiments, performing not solely as a celebration of the game’s versatility however as a testomony to the enlivening energy of 1 lady’s ambition and willpower.
It falls in need of fulfilling its potential, given a cursory exploration of a few of its extra fascinating concepts across the trauma of conflating one’s self-worth with victory. However as any chess participant will inform you, a lackluster ending doesn’t need to negate the great of the entire match.
To listen to a shorthand of Polgár’s accomplishments is showstopping sufficient: By the age of 12, she was the primary feminine chess participant on this planet, and fewer than 4 years later, she turned the youngest chess grandmaster. The movie dispels any concept that Polgár’s success is because of pure items; she labored onerous for her trophies and titles, and labored onerous in flip. Polgár was raised in communist Hungary, and her father needed to domesticate geniuses, coaching his daughters to excel in chess. Former world champion Garry Kasparov shares how chess was “considered as a political weapon” to “exhibit the mental superiority of the communist regime over the decadent West.” This additionally fueled Judit’s work and provides an ethical and political layer; for Judit, chess was by no means only a sport.
This throughline, that the plastic items, board, clock, and techniques characterize one thing bigger, is a thread Kennedy explores when depicting Judit’s struggles as a girl in taking part in. Kennedy makes use of Judit’s victories as a solution to touch upon this sexism typically to cathartic impact; we see a clip of world champion Bobby Fischer saying, “They’ve by no means turned out an excellent lady chess participant.” When Judit passes Fischer’s report and turns into the youngest grandmaster in historical past, you may nearly really feel Kennedy’s and Polgár’s mirth be exorcised from the display. It’s inspiring to see Polgár reply solely by matching her opponents’ aggression and letting her expertise communicate for itself; “I used to be dreaming of having the ability to present our power to the world.”
Polgár’s rivalry with Kasparov is one other throughline for the movie, and it’s rewarding to see their rivalry develop over time. Even in talking-head interviews (they’re by no means proven on-screen collectively, apart from archive footage of the 2 taking part in chess), they take completely different approaches, postures, and tones when describing their charged scrapes through the years. Kennedy mines these discrepancies to dramatic impact. This comes into play throughout a well-documented second the place Kasparov knowingly breaks a rule within the sport with nobody however Judit witnessing it. It’s a second the place Kennedy and editors Jesse Overman and Azin Samari intercut the 2 views like a chess match, with the 2 going backwards and forwards whereas attempting to be respectful and courteous.
It’s disappointing that Kennedy doesn’t develop a number of the movie’s most fascinating concepts, particularly Judit’s private struggles round whether or not being her father’s “experiment” was value it. The latter a part of the documentary feedback on this, but it surely’s awkwardly structured, and the eye it offers feels as if it’s crafted a verdict for Polgár when, in her interviews, one can clearly inform she has sophisticated emotions about it. A extra nuanced documentary may need allowed a few of these concepts to marinate additional.
But because it stands, “Queen of Chess” offers a champion her flowers, reminding which you can at all times construct your personal chair and pull up on the gatekeeping tables. That’s value celebrating in and of itself.
This overview was filed from the world premiere on the Sundance Movie Pageant. It releases on Netflix on February sixth.
