FORMAT

This format is for a repeatable 6×30 or 12×30 inspired by the hit BBC program Master Game from the 1980’s. The series is built around world class players and their matches as they progress through a specially staged tournament.

The series revolves around a tournament which takes place in a hotel venue. It is a ten player all-play-all tournament; 45 games of chess over 10 days. This means that players can prepare surprises for their opponent in advance, knowing that their opponent is also preparing for them. They will be playing for the real Prize money and Checkmate Trophy.
Each game counts, every player needs to win it. This is the little bit of pressure mentioned above. There is no need to put a 30 minute time limit on a game; games may take as long as they would in any tournament. We would simply edit out the thinking time so that each game becomes a continuous flowing game of over however many minutes: as little as a minute for the more one sided games in the early stages, increasing in time as the tournament progresses, until the final takes up two thirds of the climactic show.

As players discuss their options they may reflect that had they made X move instead of Y they may have been in a better or worse position. Graphically we can go back a move or two and illustrate the different route a game may have taken.

These sessions would take place very shortly after each game, with it still fresh in the player’s mind, and just as importantly, the raw tension still palpable. As the tournament progresses and the players are more evenly matched this tension becomes more and more of an undercurrent throughout the shows. We capture not just the player’s thoughts, but his/her emotions.