Queen of Chess

Judit Polgár's rise plays like a sports story fought across sixty-four squares, and this account of her fifteen-year campaign against the men's elite treats it with the intensity the subject deserves. With world champion Garry Kasparov ahead of her and a domineering father behind her, the pressure arrives from both directions, and the film frames her ascent as a challenge to the sport's patriarchal culture rather than just a run of results. At a trim ninety-three minutes it keeps the focus tight.

Made for anyone who loves an underdog carrying an outrageous amount of talent, it should land equally well with chess obsessives and viewers who cannot tell one opening from another. Expect brisk momentum, a portrait of prodigy that does not soften the cost, and the particular satisfaction of watching a closed world get prised open. A confident recommendation for an evening when you want ambition and vindication.