Chess Masters: The Endgame

Chess Masters: The Endgame is a British television competition programme that first aired on BBC Two on 10 March 2025. The show is a spiritual successor to former BBC Two series The Master Game.

Format

The 12 contestants are split across two heats. The heats consist of the first six episodes of the eight-episode run, three for each side of the draw. The players compete in a series of rapid chess matches, Grandmaster puzzles, memory tests and alternative chess formats throughout the heats. Each episode consists of two challenges and an Eliminator. In the heats, winning any challenge grants contestants a guaranteed pass to the next episode. The two contestants who fail to win a challenge compete in an Eliminator to decide who progresses to the next episode and who is ultimately eliminated from the show.
In the penultimate episode, the six surviving players return to compete against one another, before four progress to the final. For this episode, the last place contestant in the second challenge is also eliminated from the show. In the final episode, two players are eliminated through challenges leading to a final match between the two remaining players. The winner of this match is the winner of the series.

Series overview

Series 1 (2025)

The first series of Chess Masters: The Endgame began on 10 March 2025 on BBC Two, and concluded on 28 April 2025. The show was hosted by Sue Perkins, supported by experts David Howell and former Traitors contestant Anthony Mathurin. The first episode attracted almost 900,000 viewers. During the course of the series, the contestants completed challenges set by Howell, alongside playing against special guest Bodhana Sivanandan in the semi-final, and Howell himself in the final. Magnus Carlsen also made cameo appearances for memory challenges in episodes 3 and 6. Thalia Holmes won the first series, beating Richie Kelly in the final game, after Kelly missed a win and got into time trouble.

Player	Age	Nickname	Hometown
Cai Brigden	34	The Unruly Knight	London, England
Caitlin Reid	25	The Smiling Assassin	Glasgow, Scotland
Claire Gorman	50	Killer Queen	Neath, Wales
Craig Robinson	33	The Python	Spalding, England
Deema Khunda	27	The Patient Predator	Leamington Spa, England
Kelechi 'Kel' Nkwonta	39	The Action Man	Bolton, England
Tallulah 'Lula' Roberts	26	The Chess Princess	Paris, France
Navi Dhinsa	46	The Unrelenting Warrior	Kent, England
Nessie	27	Black Panther	London, England
Nick Templar	56	The Swashbuckler	London, England
Richie Kelly	63	The Strategist	Liverpool, England
Thalia Holmes	20	The Tactician	Chester, England

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Response

Praise

The program has received some positive reviews from several newspapers. The Telegraph described Chess Masters: The Endgame as "quietly compelling", whilst The Times described the show as having "a wholesome nerdy charm". The first series of Chess Masters: The Endgame marks the first time that chess has been on mainstream TV for around 32 years.

Criticism

Chess Masters: The Endgame has also received a lot of criticism. An editor from The Guardian described the show as "so dull it's almost unwatchable". Chess Masters also recorded a 5.5% viewer share, with 890,000 viewers in the first episode, dipping to 535,000 in episode two. The final was viewed by 655,000 people. The average viewers for the same slot is 1.7 million. Others criticised the show for being over-dramatic, whilst others argued that the show was not targeted towards experienced chess players and that analysis of the games was too basic.