Legendary Georgian chess player Gaprindashvili sues Netflix over Queen’s Gambit series

Legendary Georgian chess player Nona Gaprindashvili has sued Netflix over its Queen’s Gambit series. 

 

The series says that its fictional hero Beth Harmon was the only female champion who faced men and that Gaprindashvili was a Russian chess player. 

 

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

 

The suit also says that Netflix described Gaprindashvili as Russian, despite knowing that she was Georgian, ‘and that Georgians had suffered under Russian domination when part of the Soviet Union, and had been bullied and invaded by Russia thereafter.’ 

 

Gaprindashvili is demanding five million USD in compensation and the removal of the disputed parts. 

 

Gaprindashvili, 80, is a five time world champion and winner of 11 Olympiads in chess. 

 

Gaprindashvili is also the first woman to be awarded the International Chess Federation title of Grandmaster, which occurred back in 1978.