Sexist statements in cult series are fatal
A world-famous chess player is suing Netflix after multiple false statements were made about her in The Queen’s Gambit. She is demanding at least $ 5 million in damages and a scene change.
the Georgian chess champion Nona Gaprindashvili is suing Netflix due to defamatory and false statements about her in The Queen’s Gambit.
The Queen’s Gambit has risen to become a popular cult series on Netflix in which a female chess player conquers the male-dominated chess championships. Although it is a fictional series, it is based on the 1983 novel A Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis, who mentions real chess players such as Robert Fischer, Boris Spassky and Anatoly Karpov in the acknowledgments. Beth Harmon, the protagonist of The Queen’s Gambit, is probably based largely on Robert Fischer.
In the last episode of the series, a Russian chess commentator mentions the chess master Gaprindashvili:
“The only unusual thing about her is her gender,” the commentator says of Harmon, “And even that is not unique in Russia. There is Nona Gaprindashvili, for example, but she is the world champion of the women’s world championship in chess and she has never played against men.“
Gaprindashvili, who is mentioned by name here, is neither a Russian chess player, nor did she play or play only against women. As Gaprindashvili mentions, it’s 1968 – the year the episode takes place – already played chess against 59 men, including 10 grandmasters (Source: The Hollywood Reporter).
A second false statement concerns her origin, since she does not come from Russia, but from Georgia. This point is particularly emphasized in the indictment, as Georgia was dominated by Russia in the times of the Soviet Union and suffered under these circumstances (source: The Hollywood Reporter).
Netflix has commented on the complaint and wants to defend itself against the allegations. But no matter how the legal dispute ends: It’s a shame that a series like The Queen’s Gambit denies one of the world’s most famous female chess players to have asserted itself against men in the chess world.
