Movies like Checkmate
The best movies like Checkmate are Untold: Chess Mates (2026), Queen of Katwe (2016) and Bobby Fischer Against the World (2011). If Checkmate hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedInside Job (2010)7.7/10 from 1,090 votes
- NewestThe Social Reckoning (2026)Released 2026
Untold: Chess Mates (2026)
Magnus Carlsen, widely regarded as the greatest chess player of all time, is challenged by Hans Niemann, a rising star who capitalizes on the meteoric growth of online chess. Niemann’s ascension culminated in an epic, controversy-shrouded victory over Carlsen at the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, which eventually led to allegations and revelations of cheating. Determined to clear his name, Niemann fights his way back to the top of the chess world, setting the stage for a high-stakes rematch with Carlsen in 2024.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisQueen of Katwe (2016)
A young girl overcomes her disadvantaged upbringing in the slums of Uganda to become a Chess master.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBobby Fischer Against the World (2011)
The first documentary feature to explore the tragic and bizarre life of the late chess master Bobby Fischer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Luckiest Man in America (2025)
1984; Michael Larson, an unemployed ice-cream truck driver from Ohio, steps onto the game show "Press Your Luck" harboring a secret: the key to endless amounts of money. But his winning streak is threatened when the executives in the control room start to uncover his real motivations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisQueen of Chess (2026)
A Hungarian girl dreams of conquering international men’s chess. After a 15-year battle against world champion Garry Kasparov and her domineering father, Judit Polgár revolutionizes the sport’s patriarchal culture to become one of the greatest chess prodigies in history and the greatest woman chess player of all time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Life of Emile Zola (1937)
A fictionalized account of famous French writer Émile Zola and his involvement in the Dreyfus Affair. After struggling to establish himself, Zola wins success documenting the unsavory side of Paris and settles into a comfortable upper-class life. However, his complacency is shaken when Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus is imprisoned for espionage. Realizing that Dreyfus is an innocent victim of anti-Semitism, Zola boldly pens an exposé, only to be charged with libel and now he must defend himself in a dramatic courtroom testimony.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGourmet Detective (2015)
Famed culinary consultant Henry Ross is a charming food industry insider in San Francisco. When suspicious sabotage ends in a shocking murder at his friend’s five-star restaurant, Henry is put on the case with strong-willed police detective and single mom, Maggie Price. Despite Maggie’s protests, they must work together to decipher the clues and investigate all of San Francisco’s top culinary pros.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSnake Eyes (1998)
All bets are off when shady homicide cop Rick Santoro witnesses a murder during a boxing match. Determined to solve the crime, he quickly learns that his search for answers will only uncover yet more questions in an ever-widening web of conspiracy, intrigue, and danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPawn Sacrifice (2015)
During the height of the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers when he challenges the Soviet Empire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSearching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
A seven-year-old chess prodigy refuses to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInside Job (2010)
A film that exposes the shocking truth behind the economic crisis of 2008. The global financial meltdown, at a cost of over $20 trillion, resulted in millions of people losing their homes and jobs. Through extensive research and interviews with major financial insiders, politicians and journalists, Inside Job traces the rise of a rogue industry and unveils the corrosive relationships which have corrupted politics, regulation and academia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLife of a King (2013)
The true story of one man's mission to give inner city kids of Washington DC something he never had - a future. After being incarcerated for eighteen years, Eugene Brown established the Big Chair Chess Club to get kids off the streets and working towards lives they never believed they were capable of. This is his inspirational story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRogue Trader (1999)
Rogue Trader tells the true story of Nick Leeson, an employee of Barings Bank who--after a successful trading run--ends up accumulating $1.4 billion in losses hidden in account #88888.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisAll the Old Knives (2022)
When the CIA discovers one of its agents leaked information that cost more than 100 people their lives, veteran operative Henry Pelham is assigned to root out the mole with his former lover and colleague Celia Harrison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJesse Stone: Night Passage (2006)
A prequel to "Stone Cold", the story picks up after Jesse Stone is fired from the Los Angeles Police Department. He becomes an unlikely candidate recruited by a town council to become police chief of Paradise, MA, a small fishing town on Boston's North Shore. The board hopes his failed experience will keep him from digging too deep into the town's secrets. His first assignment is to investigate the murder of his predecessor whose death may be tied to a local domestic disturbance case, with connections to money laundering and murder involving some of the town's most affluent names as possible suspects.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Social Reckoning (2026)
Frances Haugen, a young Facebook engineer, enlists the help of Jeff Horwitz, a Wall Street Journal reporter, to go on a dangerous journey that ends up blowing the whistle on the social network's most guarded secrets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Apprentice (2024)
A young Donald Trump, eager to make his name as a hungry scion of a wealthy family in 1970s New York, comes under the spell of Roy Cohn, the cutthroat attorney who would help create the Donald Trump we know today. Cohn sees in Trump the perfect protégé—someone with raw ambition, a hunger for success, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrand Hotel (1932)
Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through worry, scandal, and heartache.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDuplicity (2009)
Two romantically involved government operatives Claire Stenwick and Ray Koval team up to manipulate a race between opposing corporations to corner the market on a medical innovation that will reap huge profits and allow them to lead an extravagant lifestyle together. They find themselves on opposing sides as corporate spies; however, as they each try to outdo the other, neither one can decide how far to trust the other in this high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisMolly's Game (2017)
Molly Bloom, a young skier and former Olympic hopeful becomes a successful entrepreneur (and a target of an FBI investigation) when she establishes a high-stakes, international poker game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Checkmate?
The closest matches to Checkmate are Untold: Chess Mates (2026), Queen of Katwe (2016) and Bobby Fischer Against the World (2011). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Checkmate?
Start with Untold: Chess Mates (2026), the closest match to Checkmate.
What is the highest-rated movie like Checkmate?
Inside Job (2010), rated 7.7/10 by 1,090 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Checkmate?
The Social Reckoning (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Checkmate?
Yes: Untold: Chess Mates (2026), Queen of Katwe (2016) and Bobby Fischer Against the World (2011).
How are movies similar to Checkmate chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Checkmate, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.