Netflix is under the radar as Georgian chess icon Nona Gaprindashvili filed a defamation lawsuit against it, stating that she was incorrectly portrayed in the hit series “The Queen’s Gambit”.

BBC reported that the case refers to a sequence in the drama’s final episode which says Gaprindashvili had never played competitive chess with men.

The document says that by 1968, the year in which the episode is set, she had faced at least 59 male players. However, Netflix said the claim had “no merit”.

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The company said it had “only the utmost respect” for Gaprindashvili and her “illustrious career” but that it would “vigorously defend the case”.

It can be seen that the hit series is based on the 1983 novel by Walter Tevis and focuses on a fictional chess player called Beth Harmon, played by Anya Taylor-Joy.

The series was released in 2020, becoming what Netflix described as its “biggest limited scripted series ever”.

In the final episode, a commentator mentions Gaprindashvili when describing Harmon: “The only unusual thing about her, really, is her sex. And even that’s not unique in Russia. There’s Nona Gaprindashvili, but she’s the female world champion and has never faced men.”

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BBC also reported that the 25-page case filed in the Federal District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday said, “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.”

Gaprindashvili, born in 1941 in the Georgian town of Zugdidi, began playing chess at the age of 13. She also won the female World Championship at 20 and was the first woman to be awarded the title of grandmaster.

According to reports, The Queen’s Gambit, after its release, was viewed in more than 62 million households in the first 28 days. It won two awards at this year’s Golden Globes and has garnered 18 nominations at the Emmy Awards, which will take place this weekend.