NETFLIX TO FACE "QUEEN'S GAMBIT" LAWSUIT

Chess grandmaster Nona Gaprindashvili, 80 a former chess world champion firstly filed a suit in September claiming that she was defamed in one of the episodes of this very popular TY show "The Queen's Gambit" over a line of dialogue. The main reason for going to court is one of the lines in the series where it is said that Gaprindashili 'never faced a man" in her carrier which she claims sounds "grossly sexist and belittling." 

But it is very easy to find that she indeed faced and played against a lot of mail competitors by 1968. According to Gaprindashvili, she had already challenged nearly 60 men by the time of the episode's setting. That is a time in which this popular show is mainly set. The lawyers hired by Netflix tried to dismiss a lawsuit by arguing that the show is a work of fiction U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips disagreed.

"The fact that the series was a fictional work does not insulate Netflix from liability for defamation if all the elements of defamation are otherwise present," Phillips said.

Netflix also referred to the standard disclaimer which states that the characters and events depicted in the show are fictitious but it was also refuted. One of their defenses also was that no one will get this information as a fact since the show is purely fictional.

The chess master took issue with the show represented her as Russian as well. The reason is that her home county Georgia was under Russian domination at that time.

About the show

The Queen's Gambit firstly was released on Netflix in 2020 and it is based on a 1983 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis. The title itself refers to "The Queen's Gambit" which is actually a chess opening. The story follows an orphan who is also a chess prodigy, Elisabeth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy)  in her quest to become an elite chess player. The show also guides us through her personal and emotional problems, drug, and alcohol dependency.

The series shows us that Beth was introduced to chess by the building's custodian Mr. Shaibel and thanks to her visualization skills she quickly becomes a strong player. We also can see that her addiction was unfortunately started by usually very common practice in the orphanage by giving pills to the girls to "balance their disposition". As the show progress, we are being to be witnesses of Beth's success as she rises to the top of the chess world and reaps the financial benefits despite it being a male-dominated game. Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix and we are yet to see when will season 2 be released.