TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL: The Price of Mastery: Director Liza Mandelup on Obsession, Ambition, and the World Behind Grandmasters
Few activities demand the degree of psychological endurance required to reach the highest levels of competitive chess. Yet in Grandmasters, director Liza Mandelup is less interested in the mechanics of the game than in the individuals who have built their lives around it. The series enters a rarefied world, through intimate access to some of the most influential and polarizing figures in modern chess. Mandelup reveals a community navigating immense pressure while confronting questions of identity, legacy, and purpose. Grandmasters is a portrait of people whose ambitions have become inseparable from the game they have dedicated themselves to mastering. As the series unfolds, chess emerges as a microcosm for larger cultural shifts taking place far beyond the board. Long regarded as an institution rooted in tradition, the sport now finds itself at a crossroads, shaped by new technologies, digital audiences, media personalities, and changing ideas about influence and success. Mandelup captures this period of transformation with remarkable nuance, documenting the tensions between established power structures and a generation eager to redefine what the future of chess might look like. Controversies about the sport become intertwined with deeply personal stories, exposing the emotional stakes that lie beneath the intellectual spectacle.
What makes Grandmasters particularly compelling is its ability to humanize figures who are often mythologized for their brilliance. Moments of confidence and triumph are balanced by vulnerability and sacrifice, revealing the unseen costs of pursuing excellence at the highest level.
Rather than presenting genius as something effortless, the series examines the relentless work required to sustain it. In Mandelup's hands, chess becomes both a subject and a metaphor: a framework through which to explore enduring desire to leave a mark. The series asks what it means to remain at the top when the world around you is changing, and whether mastery itself is ever truly enough.
What did you see in the world of elite competitive chess that felt culturally significant, beyond just the game itself, and why did you feel it was important to bring it to the big screens in 2026?
Yes, I feel like a lot of the players we filmed with have this very deep obsession of being the best at something so specific and singular, and I think I really related to that whereas their goal is very one track, and they will kind of consume their whole life to become that, and I think that level of obsession and intensity really inspired me.
As a filmmaker and director, how do you know when you've found the emotional centerpiece of a project?
Such a great question. I do like to think as a filmmaker, I am always drafting an emotional arc; like asking, has this person changed a little bit or have they gone through something we are picking up on? And, I think that when I feel like something has changed just a little bit, I really hold onto that because, I feel like life has a lot of plot and drama. That's not really what I feel like I'm ever trying harder to get. I feel like I'm always trying harder to get that emotional center and I think when someone has a different perspective, I think you start to head towards the ending because as humans we go through experiences that shape our perspectives and I hope to put that into the film.
Grandmasters is rooted in the world of elite chess, but it ultimately raises larger questions about the sacrifices that often accompany the pursuit of greatness. When audiences engage with the series, what do you hope they take away?
I honestly hope they feel the way that I felt, where I was like ‘holy shit, I did not know all of this was happening in the chess world’ - it’s really crazy and dramatic. I felt like I was someone who has never played chess; I didn’t know anything about it and wasn’t paying attention to it, but then I realized it is a very alive world that has a lot going on and there are really high stake situations, and I really hope people sort of realize this through watching it.
Article by Emma Green, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine
Tearsheets by Daniel López, Art Director, PhotoBook Magazine
*Images Courtesy of Grandmasters Films
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