Georgian chess legend Gaprindashvili files $5 mln defamation suit against Netflix

Legendary Georgian chess player, five-time world champion Nona Gaprindashvili,turned 80 this year. 

Agenda.ge, 17 Sep 2021 - 10:16, Tbilisi,Georgia

Legendary Georgian chess player and five-time world champion Nona Gaprindashvili has filed a lawsuit against Netflix over its hit series - The Queen’s Gambit.

The series is based on a 1983 novel and focuses on the rise of fictional chess player Beth Harmon.

In the final episode Harmon is described as the only female champion who faced men. 

The only unusual thing about her (Harmon), 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,” said the series. 

In her lawsuit Gaprindashvili says  that by 1968, when the episode was set, she had competed against at least 59 male chess players, including 10 grandmasters.