“The winner of Chess Masters: The Endgame plays the London System. That’s the tweet.” — @rookpain
“BBC’s chess show made me scream into my Berolina.” — @queenwithagun

It happened. The BBC finally aired Chess Masters: The Endgame, a highly produced, slightly deranged attempt to turn chess into a hybrid of The Great British Bake Off, Survivor, and The Queen’s Gambit — minus the pills and wigs.

And yes, there was a winner: 20-year-old Thalia Holmes, a Welsh amateur with a clean endgame and a confessional cam presence that could probably land her a Netflix gig.

But here’s the thing: no one can decide if the show was brilliant or unwatchable.

Depending on which side of the chess board you sit: It was either a gateway drug to the Sicilian Defense, or a humiliating chess-themed obstacle course built by people who think “zugzwang” is a type of German candy.

The Format (?)

Twelve contestants, a rotating cast of vaguely intense mentors (yes, Nigel Short was involved), and eliminations based on over-the-board performance and personality. One challenge involved solving puzzles while balancing on one foot. Another involved speed chess with live commentary from an ex-CBBC presenter who once hosted Blue Peter.

In short: chaos.

The Backlash

The show aired in the Sunday evening “we couldn’t get Bake Off” slot and immediately divided the chess world.

“You can’t dumb down chess and expect people to care about it,” said GM Malcolm Pein in a radio interview that felt like a eulogy.
“I actually liked it,” said literally no one on Reddit.

Chess Twitter, meanwhile, is still processing what they saw. Some are furious that the game was edited for “drama.” Others are angry it wasn’t dramatic enough. And a few — the dangerous ones — are asking for a second season.

The Bigger Question

What does it say about chess that we can’t agree on whether we want it to be niche and respected, or popular and memeable?

The show tried to split the difference, and in doing so, it kind of exposed the truth: chess is not very good television unless you mess with it. And when you mess with it, the chess part disappears.

So was it good?

No. Was it fascinating? Weirdly, yes, but in a wrong kind of way.

Thalia Holmes now has a provisional FIDE rating, a tiny Wikipedia page, and the dubious honor of being the first reality TV chess champion who might get booed at a rapid tournament.

World Chess is reportedly developing its own on-screen competition — with real players, real stakes, and no balancing on one foot. You can track that at chessarena.com (https://chessarena.com/).

BBC, if you’re reading this: next time, just call it The Chess Factor and let Magnus be the judge. At least then we’ll know where we stand.