Who Wants to Be a Chessllionaire?

JugadaBrillante

Updated: Apr 21, 2025, 3:47 AM | 9

Welcome back to everyone's favourite show: Who wants to be a chessllionaire? Today our contestant Andy Swer (that's you) is here to try to win the million euros.

I know many of you know the rules because you don't miss a single one of our shows, but just in case we have any new viewers here, we'll give you a quick rundown of how to play:

The contestant accumulates money every time he answers a question correctly.
If he answers all 10 questions correctly, he will win the million euros.
Throughout the show, each of the three lifelines can only be used once: asking the audience, eliminating half the answers (50:50), or calling someone they know.
If the contestant reaches question 5, he can keep the money they have collected if he gets it wrong later.
If the contestant reaches question 8, he can keep the accumulated money if he gets it wrong later.
If the player misses the question at any point, the game is over.

This is the amount of money that can be won in each round:

Great, now that we've done this quick review of the rules, it's time to start playing. Good luck and let the game begin.

Question 1

We'll start with a fairly easy question and gradually increase the difficulty. Remember, you can use any of the lifeline at any time. The first question is about one of the greatest female chess players in history. What was the highest rating Judit Polgár ever achieved?

2686
2735
2753
2802

Lifeline : Telephone call, 50:50, audience poll.

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Question 2

You already have €100. You've made a good start by answering the first question correctly. Let's see if you can continue your good run and get this one right too. As you know, chess has recently become very popular on social media sites such as YouTube. Can you tell me which of these YouTube channel combinations has the most followers?

ChessBase India
BotezLive+agadmator's Chess Channel+Anna Cramling
GMHikaru+Chess.com
GothamChess+Eric Rosen

Lifeline: Telephone call, 50:50, audience poll.

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Question 3

You already have €500. You're doing a good programme so far. Let's see how much you know about chess controversies. During the 2010 Olympics, a case of cheating was discovered in the French team. Which team member was the culprit?

Laurent Fressinet
Vladislav Tkachiev
Romain Edouard
Sébastien Feller

Lifeline: Telephone call, 50:50, audience poll.

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Question 4

Perfect, you've already got €1,000 which is a good prize. Now I'm going to show you one of the most exciting games I've ever seen.

Who were the players who faced each other in this match?

Nakamura vs Nepo
Firouzja vs Gukesh
Carlsen vs Caruana
Duda vs Rapport

Lifeline: Telephone call, 50:50, audience poll.

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Question 5

You already have €2,000. We've reached one of the most important moments of the show. Get this question right and you could win €10,000, even if you get it wrong later. Let's see how much you know about one of the greatest players in history: Magnus Carlsen. He has participated in many World Championships, but which of these players wasn't in his team at the 2016 World Championship?

Dubov
Vachier
Rapport
Shankland

Lifeline: Telephone call, 50:50, audience poll.

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Question 6

Now that you've won the €10,000, you can play a little more relaxed, knowing that you're already in with a prize. Let's see how you get on with the openings.

What do you call this variation of the Spanish opening?

Alapin
Schliemann
Cozio
Morphy

Lifeline: Telephone call, 50:50, audience poll.

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Question 7

You already have €25,000. From what we've seen, you're quite knowledgeable about a wide range of subjects. Let's see if you can continue to demonstrate your knowledge in the next question. A form of chess known as freestyle chess has recently become very popular. Can you tell us what year it was invented?

1991
1993
1996
1999

Lifeline: Telephone call, 50:50, audience poll.

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Question 8

You've already won €75,000. This is one of the key moments of the show. If you answer this question correctly, you're guaranteed to take home €200,000. You've done very well so far. Let's see if you can answer this one. Throughout history there have been many rivalries in chess. Which of this matches has happened the most (in classical games)?

Kasparov vs Karpov
Anand vs Kramnik
Carlsen vs Aronian
Nakamura vs Caruana

Lifeline: Telephone call, 50:50, audience poll.

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Question 9

At the moment you're guaranteed a prize of €200,000. Let's see if you can improve on that. Let's move on to the penultimate question. This year chess is trying to make a name for itself in the gaming world and many players have started to sign up for eSports teams. In which team is Nepomniachtchi?

Team Falcons
Wolves Esports
Aurora Gaming
Gen.G

Lifeline: Telephone call, 50:50, audience poll.

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Question 10

You now have €500,000. First of all, congratulations on making it this far in the show. This is something that very few contestants have achieved and you're about to make history. You're just one question away from winning a million euros. And speaking of money, this is the final question. How much money has Magnus Carlsen won in tournaments during his chess career?

$9,842,317
$10,776973
$11,394,205
$12,276,988

Lifeline: Telephone call, 50:50, audience poll.

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Correct

Well done! Judit Polgár reached an Elo rating of 2735 in July 2005, becoming the first female player to break the 2700 barrier. She was then ranked 8th in the world.

Question 2

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Correct

That's right. GothamChess currently has about 6.23 million subscribers, and Eric Rosen has 694,000. Of the other youtube channels, the ones with the most subscribers are GMHikaru with 2.84 million and chess.com with 2.5 million, but that's not enough to overtake GothamChess.

Question 3

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Correct

Indeed. During the 2010 Olympiad, GM Sébastien Feller received outside help from his coach, who stood behind certain boards to indicate the best move. As a punishment, Feller was suspended from all FIDE tournaments for two years and nine months.

Question 4

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Correct

Yes, this was one of the toughest games of the 2024 Candidates, with Gukesh dominating for much of the match until the final moves, which Firouzja is a specialist in, turned the game around. At the end of the tournament, Gukesh said that the loss had motivated him for the rest of the matches.

Question 5

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Correct

You're very good. Dubov joined Carlsen's team at the 2018 World Championship, where he was instrumental in preparing the Sveshnikov Variation of the Sicilian Defence. He also helped during the 2021 World Championship against Nepomniachtchi, which was a bit controversial because he didn't help his compatriot.

Question 6

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Correct

Very good. This Nge7 variation isn't very common, but some great players like Alexey Shirov and Karpov have used it to break away from the usual lines. One of the most common ideas is to play g6, Bg7 to convert into fianchetto schemes.

Question 7

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Correct

Perfect. Freestyle Chess was originally known as Fischer Random Chess and was invented by Fischer who wanted to do away with opening theory. It has recently become very popular again thanks to Jan Henric Buettner and his Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour event.

Question 8

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Correct

Over the course of their chess careers, Kasparov and Karpov faced each other more than 160 times. It was one of the greatest rivalries in chess history, producing dozens of very interesting games that are still studied today.

Question 9

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Correct

Excellent, on 18 February 2025 it was announced that Nepo would be joining this Serbian eSports organisation. It's a team that excels in games like Dota 2, where Nepo has participated as a player and commentator.

Question 10

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Correct

Congratulations, you've won one million euros. You're now one step closer to matching Carlsen's fortune. All this money has been won at tournaments such as the World Championships (classical, rapid and blitz), the Champions Chess Tour, the World Cup...

Go to the end of the programme

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Incorrect

You can't have got the first question wrong. You should have used some lifeline. If you like, you can try again or skip to the end of this programme.

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Incorrect

You seem to have made a mistake. That's a shame, considering how well you started. Perhaps you should have used a lifeline to secure your answer. If you like, you can try again or skip to the end of this programme.

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Incorrect

Nooo, you've accused an innocent man. You have answered two questions correctly, but your programme ends here. If you like, you can try again or skip to the end of this programme.

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Incorrect

You made a mistake after a very good start to the programme. It looked like you were going to do well, but you didn't. If you wish, you can try again or skip to the end of this programme.

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Incorrect

What a shame! You've just missed out on a small prize. If you like, you can try again or skip to the end of the programme.

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Incorrect

Oh no, not this time. You put on a good show, but at least you get the €10,000 you'd collected. If you like, you can try again or skip to the end of this show.

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Incorrect

You made a mistake after getting so many questions right. It's a shame you didn't get it right, but at least you'll get the €10,000 you won. If you like, you can try again or skip to the end of this programme.

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Incorrect

It can't be. You've missed out on a very juicy €200,000 prize. At least you won't go away empty-handed and you'll get the €10,000 you've already won. If you like, you can try again or skip to the end of this programme.

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Incorrect

Unfortunately, you didn't get to play the final question. Although you won't be leaving empty-handed, you'll still get your €200,000. If you like, you can try again or skip to the end of the programme.

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Incorrect

Nooo, you missed the final question. Considering how close you were to winning the million, it's a shame it had to end like this. At least you're not empty-handed and you can take home the €200,000 you've been saving. If you like, you can try again or skip to the end of this programme.

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Call

You've decided to call a friend. You want to call your mother because she's a big fan of Judit's. So let's start the call.

Hi Andy, I saw the question. I'm not quite sure of the answer, but I'd say no woman has gone over 2800, so I'd rule that out. Also, 2686 is Hou Yifan's highest score, not Judit's. Finally, I'm a bit hesitant between the two 2700 options, but 2735 seems a bit more familiar to me, as they didn't have ratings as high as they do now. Well, I hope I've helped and good luck at the show.

Remember that you will no longer be able to use this lifeline for the rest of the programme.

Who Wants to Be a Chessllionaire?

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