A Georgian former chess world champion's $5 million lawsuit against Netflix will go ahead after she claimed she was defamed in an episode of The Queen's Gambit, a Los Angeles judge has ruled.
Chess grandmaster Nona Gaprindashvili, 80, filed a suit in September stating that a line in the series in which a character says she had "never faced men" in her career was "grossly sexist and belittling".
Gaprindashvili had faced dozens of male competitors by 1968, the year in which the wildly popular limited series The Queen's Gambit is mainly set.
Lawyers for Netflix tried to have the suit dismissed on the grounds that the series is a work of fiction and therefore covered by the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects free speech.
But federal judge Virginia Phillips on Thursday denied their motion, noting that "the fact that the series was a fictional work does not insulate Netflix from liability for defamation if all the elements of defamation are otherwise present".
The Queen's Gambit, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, is based on a 1983 novel by Walter Tevis and tells the story of a young orphan who becomes the world's greatest chess player.
While central character Beth Harmon is fictional, the series features several real-life chess characters including Gaprindashvili.
Gaprindashvili was the first woman to be awarded the International Chess Federation title of Grandmaster, in 1978.
Expert input
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Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
Stormy seas
Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.
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RESULT
Arsenal 0 Chelsea 3
Chelsea: Willian (40'), Batshuayi (42', 49')
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Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures: Monday, first 50-over match; Wednesday, second 50-over match; Thursday, third 50-over match
