Netflix is being sued by chess champion Nona Gaprindashvili over a sexist line that references her in The Queen's Gambit. After going through its own 30-year journey to get to the screen, the limited series became an unlikely mega-hit for the big red N. Based on Walter Tevis' 1983 novel of the same name, The Queen's Gambit centers on the journey of Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), an orphan set on becoming the world's best chess player in the Cold War era.
Although Beth Harmon isn't real person, Tevis grounded his tale in truth. For instance, in his acknowledgements for the book, Tevis thanked real-life Grandmasters Robert Fischer, Boris Spassky, and Anatoly Karpov. Harmon's story aligns closely with Fischer's. Her final match against Borgov in the final episode of the series mirrors Fischer's famous 1972 game against the USSR's Boris Spassky. In that same episode, Nona Gaprindashvili, one of the top chess players of the 1970s, is referenced by a chess commentator. “The only unusual thing about her, really, is her sex," says the commentator about Harmon in the episode. "And even that’s not unique in Russia. There’s Nona Gaprindashvili, but she’s the female world champion and has never faced men.”
According to THR, the Georgian Grandmaster has filed a defamation suit against Netflix. In addition, Gaprindashvili urges that by 1968 (when the finale is set) she had already competed against at least 59 male chess players. To add salt to the wound, the master was left offended by the fact that the show called her a Russian. She was actually Georgian, a group of people who had been dominated by Russia under the Soviet Union. The suit maintains that Russia bullied Georgians and invaded their land, inferring that Netflix disrespected Gaprindashvili with the false labeling. It seems that small TV moment didn't sit well with Gaprindashvili. Insisting that the show painted Gaprindashvili in a false light, the legal document reads:
"The allegation that Gaprindashvili ‘has never faced men’ is manifestly false, as well as being grossly sexist and belittling. Netflix brazenly and deliberately lied about Gaprindashvili’s achievements for the cheap and cynical purpose of ‘heightening the drama’ by making it appear that its fictional hero had managed to do what no other woman, including Gaprindashvili, had done."
Gaprindashvili wants Netflix to pay up, seeking at least a whopping $5 million in actual damages and more in punitive damages. In addition, she desires a court order to remove the false statement from the episode. A spokesperson for Netflix has responded by saying while they respect Gaprindashvili and her achievements immensely, they don't believe the claim has any merit and will fight it.
It's disheartening to see a female chess champion hurt by The Queen's Gambit, a successful series that tells a remarkable female-centric story and empowers women. It brings to light the tight rope walk that is using public figures in works of fiction. While perhaps the production thought merely mentioning Gaprindashvili was a small homage, it's clear that the lauded player wants to check their mate.
Source: THR