BBC To Broadcast New Chess Show Decades After 'The Master Game'

Decades after the popular TV show The Master Game, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) plans to broadcast a new chess show. In Chess Masters, to be aired in 2025, players of different ages and backgrounds will go head to head in a series of rapid games for the title of Chess Master.

The Master Game was a successful program on British television between 1976 and 1983 in which the public could watch grandmasters play in a real tournament while hearing their voices as they would explain their thoughts and their moves. It was presented by Jeremy James and had expert analysis from Leonard Barden and, later, IM Bill Hartston.

In a way, the TV show was a predecessor of the modern-day chess broadcasts and streams on the Internet, albeit at a slower pace. But the main visuals were the same: cameras showing the players, at times the commentators, and a chessboard with animated figurines and move notation—a highly innovative concept for television in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Episode 11 from season 6 of The Master Game.

That was a time when the BBC was riding the wave of the chess boom instigated by GM Bobby Fischer. A new chess peak was seen in the UK in 1993, during the PCA World Championship between GMs Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short. Although Channel 4 had the live broadcasting rights and provided the main show, the BBC had their own coverage that included FIDE's title match between GMs Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman.

Three decades later, the BBC is back in the game. Chess has experienced another surge in popularity thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Netflix series The Queen's Gambit, and popular streamers such as IM Levy Rozman and GM Hikaru Nakamura. And so, the time is ripe for the BBC to revive the concept of bringing chess to TV and come with a new chess program.

Produced by Curve Media and commissioned by BBC's Factual Entertainment division, Chess Masters will see eight episodes next year on BBC2 in which highly-skilled players from all backgrounds will battle it out across a series of rapid games before one will be crowned the title of Chess Master.

Catherine Catton, Head of Commissioning, Factual Entertainment and Live Events, said: "In a market of competitions that celebrate physical feats we’re really excited to back an idea that foregrounds strategy and smart-thinking. Curve has devised a format that makes chess both entertaining and accessible for all."

Curve has devised a format that makes chess both entertaining and accessible for all.

—Catherine Catton, Head of Commissioning, Factual Entertainment and Live Events

In this new show, there seems to be an emphasis on the inclusion of players from different ages and backgrounds. "We are delighted to be making this warm, inclusive and clever series, where the emotional as well as strategic stakes are high," said Camilla Lewis, Executive Producer for Curve Media. "There is untapped talent out there. Amateurs from 8 to 80 will get the opportunity to compete with the best and the audience will get unique insights into the psychological and practical gameplay of this age-old but highly accessible game played by all cultures and by people of all kinds."

We are delighted to be making this warm, inclusive and clever series, where the emotional as well as strategic stakes are high.

—Camilla Lewis, Executive Producer for Curve Media

A funny twist to the story comes from IM Malcolm Pein, the English Chess Federation's Director of International Chess. He was quoted in the press release saying: "When Taylor Swift waxes lyrical about chess openings in her latest album, you know chess has become cool. The world’s oldest game has evolved into a 24/7 365 activity as well as a big money e-sport that has appeal across the generations. The way chess almost uniquely crosses all boundaries of age, sex, language and culture convinced me that our national broadcaster is its natural home."

Pein must have spoken to the BBC shortly after seeing a tweet from WCM Tallulah Roberts where the chess streamer jokingly suggested that chess lyrics can be found on Swift's latest album The Tortured Poets Department.

omg I can’t believe these are real lyrics from the new Taylor Swift album pic.twitter.com/jsBKY43cwu

— lula (@lularobs) April 20, 2024

Pein had retweeted the tweet and later admitted that he had fallen for it. "My next television appearance will be in a new show entitled 'I've been memed'," he wrote on X. Roberts then pointed out that Swift had used chess lyrics in older songs.

It’s ok, there are actually 2 Taylor Swift songs that talk about chess. 1 is “dear John”, Taylor sings “I lived in your chess game but you changed the rules every day”, more recently on “mastermind” Taylor sings “checkmate, I couldn’t lose”. you were only memed on a technicality

— lula (@lularobs) April 24, 2024

Update: an earlier version of this article suggested that the 1993 Kasparov-Short match was only covered by Channel 4 but the BBC discussed it as well in their own evening program.