Rematch: the essential Arte series that pits man against machine

In 2020, Netflix won the support of the public, fans of chess or not, with its solid mini-series The Queen's Game. At the end of 2024, Arte could well repeat the feat with Rematch.

Composed of six episodes, this Franco-Hungarian mini-series, however, adds an additional ingredient to the formula: artificial intelligence. The show focuses on the historic 1997 confrontation between world chess champion Garry Kasparov and IBM's Deep Blue supercomputer. Our review.

AI as an OS for Kasparov

Like the awesome Halt and Catch Fire before her (which we strongly recommend), Rematch plays with reality to romanticize his story and make it more captivating. Still, the heart of the story is there: in 1997, IBM convinced the unbeatable chess champion of Soviet origin Garry Kasparov to play a return match against his supercomputer Deep Blue, which he had already beaten in duel a year ago.

The stakes are enormous for both camps. Undefeated for over ten years, Kasparov wants to take chess to an even higher level and prove that no one can ever beat him. And certainly not a machine, at a time when AI was still in its infancy and far from what we know today.

For IBM, its stock price and its future are at stake: if Deep Blue wins, the sky is the limit. If it fails, millions of dollars gone and a reputation that is impossible to restore awaits the firm.

Even more, what was initially just a scientific experiment is now so followed and scrutinized throughout the world that the result promises to be crucial for many people, even for the future of computing and technology. 'humanity.

Created by Yan England, Rematch is definitely a series that has done its homework. The technical parts around chess and computer science are well balanced, both credible and clear. The entire cast does a great job as well.

Christian Cooke as Garry Kasparov is especially convincing. His performance is probably not unrelated to the fact that the series was awarded the Grand Prix at the Séries Mania festival this year.

• Watch the trailer for the series:

A clever mix of genres

Thanks to an excellent sense of rhythm and staging, Rematch achieves – as the Queen's game – to make perfectly static chess duel scenes exciting. The series also injects a welcome dose of psychological thriller into its episodes.

In addition to the stress and pressure that consumes those involved, this includes scenes from Kasparov's past, mixed with his growing paranoia as the matches progress. It's very simple: the whole thing is devoured without thinking about it, whether or not we know the outcome of this duel.