Nona Gaprindashvili, the world’s first female chess grandmaster, has filed a lawsuit against streaming giants, Netflix over The Queens Gambit.
In the $5 million defamation lawsuit, Nona claims a line from the hit Netflix show was sexist and false.
The line in question is heard during a chess competition in Moscow featuring Beth Harmon (Played by Anya-Taylor Joy). As a woman watches the chess match, the event’s announcer says, “The only unusual thing about [Beth], really, is her sex, and even that’s not unique in Russia. There’s Nona Gaprindashvili, but she’s the female world champion and has never faced men.”
The 80-year old Soviet chess icon, took offence with this statement. The suit filed on Gaprindashvili’s behalf in a U.S. federal court in Los Angeles said the reference to her was “degrading her accomplishments before an audience of many millions.”
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The legal papers seen by Reuters state that the five-time world champion was “the first woman in history to achieve the status of international chess grandmaster among men.”
She had played against at least 59 male chess players by 1968, the year in which the Queens Gambit episode was set, according to the legal papers.
In an interview arranged by her lawyers, Gaprindashvili said, “They were trying to do this fictional character who was blazing the trail for other women, when in reality I had already blazed the trail and inspired generations. That’s the irony. This was an insulting experience. This is my entire life that has been crossed out, as though it is not important.”
In a statement released, Netflix claimed the suit had no merit. “Netflix has only the utmost respect for Ms. Gaprindashvili and her illustrious career, but we believe this claim has no merit and will vigorously defend the case.” The statement read.
The Queen’s Gambit is based on a 1983 novel by Walter Tevis. The show tells the story of a young orphan, Beth Harmon who becomes the world’s best chess player.
