Netflix has put an end to the trial procedures started by Nona Gaprindashvili's nearly a year ago, reaching a settlement agreement on the defamation lawsuit originating from their hit miniseries The Queen's Gambit.
As reported by The New York Times, Gaprindashvili's attorneys filed papers in federal court that would see the $5 million lawsuit come to a close under unknown terms after the former chess champion claimed Netflix's The Queen's Gambit falsely portrayed her legacy. In the final episode of The Queen's Gambit, fictional series protagonist Beth Harmon is referred to as the first female player to face male chess champions, even going as far as naming Gaprindashvili but omitting the fact the Georgian grandmaster did actually play against top male competition several times, including before the events during which the series took place.
To quote another great champion subject of a 2020 Netflix hit, Gaprindashvili took that personally. Gaprindashvili called the moment “an insulting experience” that diminished the very accomplishments The Queen's Gambit aimed to highlight. Although no further details were shared with media outlets, Gaprindashvili's lawyer Alexander Rufus-Isaacs merely expressed his satisfaction at seeing the matter fully resolved and finished, though Netflix still has similar pending cases related to some of its “based a true story” dramas.
Gaprindashvili was born in Georgian territory in the former Soviet Union, growing up to become a noted payer in women’s competition and gaining fame in the world of chess by competing against men as early as 1963. She even became the first woman to be granted the title of Grandmaster in 1978. In The Queen's Gambit, starring Anya Taylor-Joy as Beth Harmon, the controversial line is dropped in a 1968 chess game versus fictional Soviet player Vasily Borgov.
Borgov's creation was largely inspired by Russian chess legend Boris Spassky, while Harmon was more of a mixture of several women with impressive careers in the game, including Gaprindashvili, so it’s nice to see amends have been made towards the former Grandmaster. Suffice it to say, The Queen's Gambit was an absolute phenomenon at the start of the pandemic, easily becoming one of Netflix's most-watched series and also fueling a renewed interest in chess, especially among gamers on platforms like Twitch.
With The Queen's Gambit case being taken care of, Netflix still has a new lawsuit in hand stemming from alleged defamation in Inventing Anna, as well as the documentary Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich that tracks the footsteps of the disgraced and convicted sex offender.
Source: The New York Times