Breaking through is the inside story of the lives of the famous Polgar sisters. The three sisters, born in Hungary, have taken the chess world by storm over the past two decades. All three achieved grandmaster results in their teens and followed up their early promise with astonishing achievements. In 1989 Sofia scored an incredible 8 1/2/9 in a powerful tournament in Rome; in January 1991 Susan became the first ever woman to achieve the male grandmaster title and in December 1991 the youngest, Judit, broke Bobby Fishcher's record to become the youngest grandmaster ever. Between them, Susan and Judit have occupied the world number one ranking slot for the past 21 years. Breaking Through charts the lives of all three sisters and witnesses their development from child prodigies through successes in junior events, Olympiads and finally World Championships. Along the way the sisters revolutionized the public perception of chess and broke gender and age barriers. They not only had to defeat top players in competition, they also had to overcome sexism, hypocrisy and resentment arising from their parent's individualistic educational approach.

The training methods used by the Polgars are controversial. These methods are fully discussed and the sisters themselves reveal what they think about them.