Georgian chess icon sues Netflix over "Queen's Gambit" series
Georgian chess icon Nona Gaprindashvili has sued the Netflix platform, saying that she was incorrectly portrayed in their series "Queen's Gambit", reports the BBC.
The case refers to the part in the last episode in which it is said that Nona Gaprindashvili, who is now 80 years old, has never played competitive chess against men. However, documents show that until 1968, the year to which the episode refers, she played against at least 59 male chess players, the BBC emphasizes.
Netflix, on the other hand, says the lawsuit has "no value." The company points out that it highly appreciates Gaprindashvili and her career, but that it will fiercely defend itself in that case.
The "Queen's Gambit" series is based on the 1983 work by Walter Tevis and focuses on the fictional chess player Beth Harmon, played by Anya Taylor-Joy. The series came out last year and was a great success.
In the last episode, the narrator mentions Gaprindashvili when he describes Harmon saying: “The only unusual thing about her, really, is her gender. And even that is not unique in Russia. There is Nona Gaprindashvili, she is the world champion, but she has never played against men ".
The lawsuit alleges that "Netflix brazenly and deliberately lied about Gaprindashvili's achievements for a cheap and cynical reason, to 'intensify the drama' by making it look like his fictional heroine managed to do what no woman, including Gaprindashvili, did."
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Born in 1941 in the Georgian city of Zugdidi, Gaprindashvili started playing chess at the age of 13, became a female world champion at the age of 20, and was the first woman to receive the title of Grandmaster, according to the lawsuit. "Until 1968," Gaprindashvili continued, "she competed against at least 59 male chess players (28 of them simultaneously), including the Grandmasters of the time," such as Boris Spassky, Dragoljub Velimirovic, and Bojan Kurajica.
Gaprindashvili, who now lives in Tbilisi, is seeking $ 5 million in damages and the removal of the controversial statement that she never played against men.
By: Helen B.
