Is Rematch on Arte the best series on chess?

“Chess is like war. You must destroy the mind and soul of your rival.” : this is how Garry Kasparov, internationally recognized grandmaster, describes his favorite sport in the introductory scene of Rematch. In the new Arte series, available for free from October 2, 2024, this chess champion, probably the best known in the world, faces an opponent just as formidable as him: Deep Blue, one of the first artificial intelligences , against whom he played several games, in 1996 and 1997. Who will win, between man and machine?

That’s the whole subject of this psychological thriller inspired by real events, and carefully embroidered to hook us, from the beginning to the end of its 6 episodes. But after the success of Queen’s game on Netflix, in 2020, did we need a new series about chess? Rematch brilliantly proves to us that the answer is more than positive.

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Rematchthe most beautiful representation of chess on screen?

You don’t know anything about chess? Don’t panic, us either, and yet we loved diving into this world of strategies and deadly blows. On the contrary, do you have a passion for this discipline, which holds no secrets for you? So much the better, Rematch will only be more captivating.

Regardless of your knowledge or your preconceptions on the subject, the series ticks all the boxes and manages to keep us in suspense until the end, to find out who will triumph in this duel: Kasparov or Deep Blue? So, certainly, the comparison with the cardboard of Queen’s game on Netflix, in 2020, is inevitable. But this analogy clearly leans in favor of a single winner: Rematch.

Arte’s production could then indeed become the most beautiful representation of chess on screen, so far. More than focusing on the journey of a particular individual as in the Queen’s gamehere we really get to the heart of the challenges of this discipline: by what means, more or less fair, can you beat your main competitor? The slightest movement, made by simple wooden pieces, both white and black, then takes on unexpected proportions.

Each move is thus perfectly explained by the series, which knows how to become playful when necessary, while almost flirting with the genre of espionage at times, as the tension becomes more and more paranoid around the set, over the course of 6 episodes offered by Arte.

Worse than an anti-hero

Yet, Rematch started with a disadvantage: Garry Kasparov, himself. If the excellent British actor who plays him, Christian Cooke (Doctor Who), completely disappears behind his character, this is not necessarily for the best. The chess player is thus not really shown in his best light.

Narcissistic, arrogant, self-centered and obsessed with victory, Garry Kasparov even goes beyond the status of anti-hero. We are rather dealing with a frankly detestable main character, without any quality for him, apart from that of being a supreme champion, revealing a hint of humanity only during the last two episodes of Rematch.

The humans behind the machine

But this bias is not trivial. Far from the cold and implacable figure represented by the world chess champion, there is a surprisingly warmer personality: the artificial intelligence Deep Blue. Or more precisely, the journey of those who helped make it emerge, at the giant IBM.

And Rematch takes liberties with reality, it still presents us with a gallery of multifaceted characters, which we take immense pleasure in following: Paul Nelson, champion hired by IBM to train the supercomputer, Helen Brock, who oversees the project in an uncompromising manner, and especially Ren Guan-Lin, nicknamed PC, the underestimated genius behind the creation of Deep Blue.

It is the latter which experiences the most touching and spectacular evolution of the series, embellished with welcome touches of humor. And it is thanks to him that we find ourselves supporting the IBM camp, and certainly not that of its competitor, incapable of showing the slightest emotion.

Episode 2, the most inventive

Unfortunately, Rematch is not free from defects. If it excels on the narrative level, when it comes to chess, certain parallel plots regularly parasitize the whole. We think in particular of those concerning Kasparov’s past or private life, which attempt to humanize him, in vain.

On the production side, if the transitions between the different scenes, based on unattractive archive images, completely tarnish the staging, episode 2 still reveals itself as the most inventive, full of ideas great for immersing ourselves in the games in progress. Kasparov then imagines the pieces moving on the board in less than four seconds, or replays the different moves a posteriori, as if separated from his own body.

An echo of current themes on artificial intelligence

A creativity that we would have liked to see more of during the 6 episodes of Rematchbecoming a bit repetitive in its mechanisms, over the course of the games. The series still manages to always find narrative devices to catch us up and excite us about this confrontation, described as the confrontation of the 20th century.

And more than thirty years later, at a time when artificial intelligence has taken an immense place in our daily lives, its themes remain as relevant as ever.

Just like in the field of chess, Rematch manages to mischievously popularize the issues of Deep Learning and the evolution of these new technologies in the 1990s, while connecting them to our present. How can we not think of the recurring discussions on the subject, when Kasparov reveals his greatest fear: becoming useless, eventually replaced by the machine he defied.

Rematch will undoubtedly mark a milestone in the history of the representation of artificial intelligence, like chess. In episode 3, Paul’s character believes that “Deep Blue dives into the heart of chess like no player before”. Rematchshe holds the feat of having immersed us in this discipline, like no other series before. Checkmate.

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