Georgia’s chess legend Nona Gaprindashvili, a five-time world champion, the winner of 11 Chess Olympiad tournaments, and the first woman to be awarded the International Chess Federation’s title of Grandmaster, turned 82 today. 

In his birthday wishes, Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili called Gaprindashvili `”national pride and  a great patriot”, who had introduced her country to the wider world. 

“Thanks to her phenomenal talent and hard work, Gaprindashvili has introduced our country to the whole world, and she remains a household name in the world of chess, and this is something we as her aficionados take pride and joy in.I wish many happy returns, health and vigor, to Ms. Nona Gaprindashvili, a truly great persona and extraordinary patriot who has dedicated her whole life to her homeland”, Garibashvili said. 

In 2021 Gaprindashvili filed a defamation lawsuit against the US global Internet streaming-on-demand media provider Netflix for an episode in its Queen’s Gambit television series. 

The episode claimed Gaprindashvili had never faced men in her career, while she had competed 59 male opponents by the time the episode was set. Netflix last year agreed to settle the lawsuit with the Georgian chess legend.