Pioneering Female Chess Champ Sues Netflix over "Queen's Gambit" Slight!!!

I initially thought her suit was frivolous.  But after talking to a lawyer friend of mine, who read the summary of her suit, he convinced me that she has a very good case and predicted that Netflix would try to settle quickly.  He also believes they would be wise to settle, because it really wouldn't cost that much compared to the negative publicity from dragging her through the courts.  After all, the series gave them brownie points for the strong woman lead character - which all could appear highly disingenuous if they turn around and fight the real one.

To address the two recent posts. The producers and directors did not say anything untrue, because it's fiction. It can very easily be argued that the fictional commentators in the fictional movie were talking about the fictional participants in a fictional tournament. In that case, it's true, she did NOT face any men in the Moscow Invitational. And assuming creative license is thrown completely out the window and somehow someone believes there is any merit to Netflix saying Nona never faced men, there is exactly zero chance that rises anywhere near close to the level of defamation or harm. 

It's unlikely Netflix will settle because they have no interest in bottom feeders looking for a quick buck. It sets a terrible precedent. Not only for Netflix but movie making in general. There are a thousand examples of things being said about real life people in fictional movies that all resulted in no defamation. It really is disappointing Nona would stoop to this level. 

Folks, this thread is DEACTIVATED, remember?  There are no more posts allowed until the OP says so.

Besides, chess.com just called.  They said, "for my own good", that I should direct you all to the "Official Chess News" page where this story is also covered.  True, I did break the story first here on chess.com, and true, they changed the timestamps to falsely show that their story appeared first, because they can't stand the fact that they were scooped.

Anyway, they said that they are "uncomfortable with two competing threads" on the same topic.  They said if I'm covering the story (quite well, I might add), what are they paying their writers for?

They said to remember what it's like to be muted, and well, that's more than enough for This Reporter.  Message received –– Roger Wilco!

Thread ....  DEACTIVATED

Then how would people discuss the current chess news? You could always close the topic. But that's like a news station saying "we are not going to report the news until we say so". The  news doesn't care who doesn't want to report it. It still happens. 

In the best interest of all involved, the more coverage the better, right?

chess.com said my coverage is "more a feeble attempt at entertainment than news", and if I don't watch myself, all my existing content will now, and forevermore be permanently relegated to the "Fun With Chess" section of the forums.

"And how would you like that, Barney?" they said.

Well that's because chess IS entertainment. So news about chess is always entertainment. So "Fun with Chess" is the perfect place for any chess news. Chess is a game, it's supposed to be fun. 

Even movies about chess are entertainment. So news about movies about chess is also entertainment. The problem is that when you get smarmy greedy lawyers involved, then it's no longer fun. 

     In the fine print of the film's credits it says it is FICTION. Nona Gaprindashvili complained that she never got invited to strong GM tournaments so she rarely got to play vs men. Even after achieving regular GM status she still didn't get many tournament invitations so she continued to play almost exclusively in women's events. So the "she never plays against men" comment has a kernel of truth. And of course there was no "Moscow Invitational Tournament" in 1968 (the only tournament with that name occurred in 1935) so neither Nona nor Beth Harmon could have participated in an actual tournament. How can something that far removed from reality be a slur on a real person?

As per the site's request, all commenters are hereby directed to the article about this topic on the Official Chess News section of chess.com.  

This thread is no longer accepting new posts.

Thank you for your participation, goodbye.

It can't. And most everyone, including her attorney know it. It's a SLAPP lawsuit, solely intended to intimidate, silence, or censor. As with most SLAPP lawsuits, there is no expectation to win. The only hope is to extort a couple bucks out of Netflix to make it go away. Very demeaning and degrading of Nona to stoop this low.

BUT, I think it does provide a valuable lesson. Exposure and discussion about this brings these issues to light that many people might not ordinarily be aware of. 

"Deactivated" means nothing.  "Locked" shuts off comments.

Hey I'm just saying what they told me to say.  They were very upset at my "upstart" (their words)  chess news threads.  They said there is some place I can click a so-called thread deactivation button, but I couldn't find it, I'm terrible at computer stuff.  Eventually, they calmed down and said to just "declare it deactivated" and  direct folks to the "legitimate" article in the news section of the site.

So ... thread DEACTIVATED!

Thanks for your participation. 

Why and how did Netflix make this dumb mistake?   Netflix,  do some research before you have some character make a claim like that.   sheesh.

It is a fictional story.

Yes, it was fictional story, but apparently, they had a character say something about a real life person, that wasn't true.  Not wise.

Mountain ... molehill

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Should Spassky sue Netflix because they said "Borgov," the fictional Soviet world champion , had played him in Leningrad in 1962?

Is Spassky still alive?  In any case, no.   It is obvious that the claim is fictional, because Borgov is fictional.  But the claim that Gaprindashvili never played any men is not obviously fictional(unless one were to research it).

     Some clueless chess administrator in a piece of fiction was given a line saying the world's (then) most famous woman chessplayer never played men. This is a dramatic device showing the prejudice the fictional main character (Beth Harmon) had to deal with. Not slander.

     Also, Nona Gaprindashvili admitted that she rarely got invited to top-level open tournaments, even after she became a (regular) GM and played almost exclusively in women's events because she could make more money that way.

Gaprindashvili's GM title was a gift from FIDE, because she had not played enough games at the norm, to qualify under the rules of the time.