BBC Releases Trailer For 'Chess Masters: The Endgame' Starting Monday

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has released the official trailer for its upcoming series Chess Masters: The Endgame. The highly anticipated series, in which 12 rising stars of the UK’s booming chess community battle it out and GM David Howell is among the commentators, starts this coming Monday.

The official trailer for Chess Masters: The Endgame.

Chess Masters: The Endgame is a reality TV talent show that will have eight half-hour episodes over eight weeks, every Monday on BBC2 at 20:00 UK time (3 p.m. Eastern, 21:00 CET, 01:30 a.m. IST on Tuesday). Hosted by Sue Perkins alongside experts Anthony Mathurin and Howell, the 12 contestants will be facing "brain-boggling puzzles" and "high-stakes speed chess battles" in their quest to be the first Chess Masters Champion. One of the participants is WCM Tallulah Roberts (better known as Lula Robs), a chess streamer and well-known content creator from Jersey.

The show, produced by Curve Media and commissioned by BBC's Factual Entertainment division, was first announced almost a year ago. It will be the first major television program about chess on British television since coverage of the Kasparov-Short match in 1993 on the BBC and Channel 4, while it also brings back memories of the legendary 1970s and 80s show 'The Master Game.'

The timing makes sense as chess has experienced a 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. Bringing the show at prime time shows BBC's faith in their audience's willingness to embrace the royal game even more.

Howell, known for his expert commentary gigs in many chess broadcasts in recent years, recently said about this one in a TakeTakeTake interview: "It's an honor to be a part of it. It's going to be a lot of fun."

Excited to announce that Chess Masters: The Endgame will be hitting your screens soon! We put everything into this project, and it's probably the most proud/excited I've ever been😊. Episode one launches on BBC2 at 8pm on Monday 10th March. Spread the word! #ChessMasters #Endgame pic.twitter.com/OBGEMvxKHf

— David Howell (@DavidHowellGM) March 4, 2025

Media site Deadline revealed that the show's competition format was inspired by a personal story – that of Camilla Lewis, head of producers Curve Media. Her daughter was struggling with mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic. “The thing which really helped her and gave her an avenue was chess.com,” Lewis told Deadline. “It was taken up by a whole new epoch and generation of people.”

All3Media International executive vice-president of formats and licensing Nick Smith has noted that the series has been produced to appeal across all levels of chess knowledge, according to Broadcast International. The same site revealed that rights for the format have been optioned ahead of launch by Mediawan in France, ITV Studios in Spain, Endemol Shine in Australia, Filmpool in Germany, IDTV in the Netherlands, and All3Media Belgium.