05/31/2025
“The WOMAN who BEAT 59 men and sued Netflix for \$5 MILLION” ♟️🔥
Meet Nona Gaprindashvili—the real-life chess queen Netflix tried to erase. While The Queen’s Gambit celebrated “Beth Harmon,” they conveniently “forgot” that Nona:
* 1962: Became the first woman ever to earn the title of International Grandmaster
* Defeated 59 male opponents in simultaneous exhibitions—28 of them fellow Grandmasters
* Won five consecutive Women’s World Championships (a record that still stands)
* Refused to compete for the overall World Championship when Soviet officials banned her from bringing along her young son
* At 79 years old, claimed gold at the Senior Team World Championship, proving age is just a number
In 2022, at age 80, she sued Netflix for \$5 million** for the on-screen claim that she “never faced men”—and won. Netflix publicly apologized and settled, but how many people even heard this story?
For decades, chess’s power brokers downplayed her achievements. Nona’s revenge? A legacy so powerful it outshines fiction.
Next time you watch The Queen’s Gambit, remember: the real Beth Harmon walked the board decades ago—and her true story is 100 times more incredible.