Chess grandmaster sues Netflix over 'sexist and belittling' line in The Queen's Gambit

The world's first female chessgrandmaster, Nona Gaprindashvili, has filed a $5 million US defamation lawsuit against Netflix over a line in its seriesThe Queen's Gambitwhich her lawyers say is false andsexist.

The 80-year-old Soviet chess icon, a hero in her nativeSouth Caucasus Republic of Georgia, was described in the show'slast episode as a female champion who had "never faced men."

The suit filed on Gaprindashvili's behalf in a U.S. federalcourt in Los Angeles said the reference to her was "degradingher accomplishments before an audience of many millions."

The legal papers seen by Reuters said the five-times worldchampion was "the first woman in history to achieve the statusof international chess grandmaster among men."

She had played against at least 59 male chess players by1968, the year in which the episode was set, according to the legal papers.

Netflix did not immediately reply to a request for commentbut was cited in U.S. media as saying it would "vigorouslydefend the case."

"We believe this claim has no merit," a spokesperson for theU.S. streaming giant was quoted as saying.

The Queen's Gambit,based on a 1983 novel by Walter Tevis,tells the story of young orphan Beth Harmon who becomes theworld's best chess player in the Cold War era.

Harmon, who is played by Anya Taylor-Joy, is described byNetflix as someone "determined to conquer the traditionalboundaries established in the male-dominated world ofcompetitive chess."

The series won two Golden Globes this year and nabbed 18nominations at this weekend's 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards. It issaid to have inspired more women to take up chess.

Gaprindashvili's lawyers say the series, released in October2020, caused her professional harm and want the line about hernever facing men removed, calling it "grossly sexist andbelittling."

The lawsuit accuses the series of continuing to causeGaprindashvili, who competes in senior chess tournaments, "irreparable damage."

Netflix, headquartered in California, hired Russian formerworld champion Garry Kasparov and American national master BrucePandolfini as their consultants.