Explained: How Netflix got stumped by Queen’s Gambit

Who is the Georgian chess master in question?

Nona Gaprindashvili is the first woman in chess to be named grandmaster and was awarded the title by FIDE in 1978. She was the fifth women’s world chess champion from 1962-1978 and was also successful in men’s tournaments winning the Hastings Challenger in 1963/4.

She has victories over 10 grandmasters, including India’s Vishwanathan Anand in 1988. Gaprindashvili was also part of the USSR Olympiad team of the 80s and has 25 medals to her name, including eleven team gold medals and nine individual golds. At the 1986 Dubai Olympiad, she won all 10 of her games.

What was the lawsuit that she filed?

Currently 80 years old, Gaprindashvili filed a lawsuit against Netflix’s portrayal of her in their series ‘The Queen’s Gambit’, at the California District Court, in September. The lawsuit states that the portrayal of her character wrongly identified her as Russian and was ‘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’

‘Thus, in a story that was supposed to inspire women by showing a young woman competing with men at the highest levels of world chess, Netflix humiliated the one real woman trail blazer who had actually faced and defeated men on the world stage in the same era,’ the lawsuit stated.

The scene in question

‘The Queen’s Gambit’ is based on the life of a fictional character named Beth Harmon, who grew up in an orphanage in Kentucky during the 1950s. The series, made from a novel written by Walter Tevis in 1983 goes on to show Harmon beat some of the greatest Russian chess players of her time.

In the final, Harmon is set to take on fictional chess player Viktor Laev in Moscow and it is during this scene that the basis of the lawsuit is set. The commentator of the match says, “The only unusual thing about her really, is her sex, and even that’s not unique in Russia.” He then adds, “There’s Nona Gaprindashvili, but she’s the female world champion and has never faced men.” The scene is set in the year 1968 and the lawsuit states that by this time, she had already competed against 59 men and had beaten 28 of them.

The Queen’s Gambit has become one of Netflix’s biggest limited script series ever. It won two Golden Globe awards early in 2021 and has won 18 Emmy Awards and nominations. There are also talks going on to make the series into a stage musical.

Netflix’s response

In September the New York Times held an interview with Gaprindashvili where she spoke about her grievances against Netflix. “Not many things can damage me emotionally,” she said. “But this was surprising to me — and humiliating.” She cited that the 1983 novel mentioned that she had faced male GMs but the show failed to show this information.

The same NYT article had a quote from Netflix on the issue where the streaming giants’ statement said, “Netflix has only the utmost respect for Ms. Gaprindashvili and her illustrious career, but we believe this claim has no merit and will vigorously defend the case.”

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