Chess Grandmaster Gaprindashvili Sues Netflix Over The Queen’s Gambit

In trying to exalt a fictional female chess player in The Queen’s Gambit, Netflix managed to snub a very real one: Nona Gaprindashvili.

The chess champion is now suing Netflix for $5 million in actual damages and a figure unnumbered in punitive damages.

Gaprindashvili, the first woman to be awarded the FIDE title of Grandmaster, had a brief mention in the immensely popular The Queen’s Gambit.

In the final episode of the limited series, Beth Harmon plays her last match against Vasily Borgov. Therein, the commentator says about Gaprindashvili,

The only unusual thing about her [Harmon], really, is her sex. And that’s not unique in Russia. There’s Nona Gaprindashvili but she’s the female world champion and has never faced men.

The Queen’s Gambit

I’m sure the writers found it amusing to weave in real-life historical characters to give The Queen’s Gambit more flesh, in addition to the plot that is based on a book of the same name by Walter Tevis.

But in that one-line mention, here’s what they got wrong: The finale is set in 1969, a year by which Gaprindashvili had matched against several male contestants, including 10 Grandmasters. Additionally, she is not Russian but Georgian.

A snippet from Gaprindashvili’s legal complaint against Netflix:

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.

Nona Gaprindashvili

The show runs on making the fictional Beth Harmon “the first of her kind” at the expense of trivializing real-life women’s successes. That’s not what you want from a show propagating female empowerment.

The show could’ve easily done with a better line about Gaprindashvili or not mention her at all.

For the second bit, a good defense is that Georgia was under Soviet rule at the time. So commentatory in the era, which is not known for its political correctness, would’ve just clubbed it together and recognized Gaprindashvili under the Russian umbrella.

Given Russia’s imperialist history with Georgia, it doesn’t take away from the fact that individuals like Gaprindashvili would find the mislabelling insulting. 

It may put writers in a little bit of a frenzy of whether dialogues should be historically apt or politically aware from today’s standpoint. Nevertheless, the onus is on them — and those seeking reparations like Gaprindashvili have every right to.

Besides the monetary compensation, Gaprindashvili has also asked for the dialogue to be removed from the series.

In response to all the allegations, a Netflix representative has said that while they respect Gaprindashvili, they find that the claim has no merits and will defend their case accordingly.

About The Queen’s Gambit 

The Queen’s Gambit is a 2020 American coming-of-age period drama on Netflix, that streamed as a limited series. It is based on Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel of the same name. The title refers to the “Queen’s Gambit” which is a chess opening move, designed to secure control of the center of the board.

It was written and directed by Scott Frank, who co-created it with Allan Scott.

Beginning in the mid-1950s and proceeding into the 1960s, the story follows the life of Beth Harmon (played Anya Taylor-Joy), an orphaned chess prodigy on her rise to the top of the chess world while struggling with drug and alcohol dependency.

Source: Hollywoodreporter