The story of an agoraphobic chess master solving mysteries with his associates had some good moments, especially once the season got underway. Unfortunately, the single season ends with NO resolution to the central mystery of who killed the protagonist's finance. This was a very unsatisfactory ending, and my wife and I feel that we wasted our time on a show with no resolution.

This would be an interesting concept but still very mediocre show if not a rehash of already done ideas.The fun and ridiculous garbage that is The Mentalist, Castle, Lie To Me and other similar shows that are done SOOOO much better and if you are going to spend time with this genre, spend your time with better quality.I am a 4th generation Russian decent and REALLY wanted to like the show that highlighted a Russian character. The actor and character are NOT BAD and the actor is probably the highlight.Everything else just ends up mediocre, or less than mediocre.

Arkady Balagan, an agoraphobic grandmaster chess player cannot leave the hotel he was staying in when he saw his fiancée killed. Nearly skint, he accepts commissions to solve crimes brought to him by others. He conscripts a young chess playing admirer, a chambermaid, a bartender, and the hotel's head of security - who does not like him (great relationship there) - to do his footwork for him. As they bring back the results of their investigations and research, he runs it all through his imagination, like envisioning a chess game and all his future moves, until he comes upon a likely scenario. He always inserts his own avatar into the playback, asking questions and getting advice from the characters even as he watches his scripts unfold. While having similarities to Sherlock Holmes, Nero Wolfe, and Bobby Goren, he deserves not to be seen as derivative of those characters, but on a par with them.Canada's Shawn Doyle portrays Arkady Balagan with finesse, arrogance and bravado appropriate to his egoistic appreciation of his own skills and intelligence. The supporting cast is just as good, and each episode is as good as the last.

Looking at crimes from the point-of-view of a chess game and the players as chess pieces is fascinating. The chemistry of this ensemble cast led by damaged Russian Ex-pat Chess-master (played by Shawn Doyle) is a testament to the phrase "friends are the family you choose". Albeit a dysfunctional one, but then what family isn't a little bit? I was curious to see where the storyline was headed. I really would have liked to see the back story of the character of Sam (played by Torrance Coombs). Where does he go when he's not assisting Arkady solving mysteries in trade for chess matches? It's really nice to see a Vancouver, BC based show actually play as Vancouver, BC. Sadly it looks like we'll only see one season. A shame as the show was just hitting its stride.