March 2021

by Esther Keller-Pickup and Alix Hughes

As a contribution to International Women’s Day 2021, The Bristol Tbilisi Association proudly presented:  “The Queen's Gambit: how one Georgian woman conquered the chess world”

The Netflix hit series “The Queen’s Gambit” followed the rise of a young female chess prodigy and caused an unexpected chess boom. While the series is fictional, the story of this amazing Georgian woman isn’t. The five-time Women’s World Chess Champion, Nona Gaprindashvili, became an icon: the world’s first female Grandmaster - the highest title awarded to chess players. Nona will join us for this event from her home in Tbilisi, a city twinned with Bristol for over three decades.

As part of the celebrations for International Women’s Day, Bristol journalist Fatima Hudoon tells the story of Nona’s chess career and legacy touching on chess culture in the now-former Soviet country of Georgia. It will then be followed by a Q&A with Nona who at the age 79 still makes moves on the board. 

Speaker: Fatima Hudoon is a Bristol journalist whose work features in the local media cooperative, The Bristol Cable, and elsewhere. A chess enthusiast herself, Fatima recently wrote a Calvert Journal article on Georgian chess queen, Nona Gaprindashvili, who was mentioned in the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit.

The event was introduced by Derek Pickup, Chair of the Bristol-Tbilisi Association.

People from Georgia, UK, Czech Republic and USA took part in the Zoom conference, including Ambassador of Georgia to the UK H.E. Sophie Katsarava. Nona Gaprindashvili also presented. It was a big honor to have her as a guest.  She answered many questions during the event. Her grandson "worked" as an interprener.