----- Original Message -----
From:
Sandy
Klein
Sent: Saturday, May 28, 2011 5:51
PM
Subject: [NABOKV-L] Nabokov's Inspiration
for The Defense ...
Bardeleben the Chess Master: Vladimir Nabokov's Inspiration for The Defense
66Curt von Bardeleben
Curt von Bardeleben
Aleksandr
Luzhin, the main character from Vladimir Nabokov's "The Luzhin Defense," was
based on real life chess master Curt von Bardeleben who lived from 1861 to
1924. Both the fictional character and the real person were strong chess
players who competed at world championship levels, both were reclusive and
socially awkward, both jumped to their deaths
through a window. Curt is most famous for his game against Steinitz in
which he (Carl) left the room instead of resigning. (I can relate).
An
exploration of the madness of chess as seen in Nabokov's novel, written by
Glen Downey is available, though unfortunately not online. The one
quote available talks about the obssesive ritual of undoing through chess
combinations... the undoing of disturbing prechess childhood
events.
Steinitz vs Bardeleben
Source: Chessvideostv
Chess and Madness
Apparently Curt didn't like his position here against Steinitz, because it was his move, and the move he played was leaving the room and never returning.
I
believe there is a correlation between chess and madness--as it really is an
obsession. Whenever I talk to a chess player who has decided to give up chess
I feel a sense of impending doom for them. I can't explain it. I just know it
is the end, somehow. Not of their obsession, of course. There is no end to
that. So it must just be the end, period, for them. Curt, or in Nabokov's
novel, the character "Aleksandr Ivanovich Luzhin" decides that chess is the
reason for his declining state and tries to give it up. Chess creeps back into
his consiousness, however, and he feels it pulling him in. He tries to find
the move that will get him out of the game. He finds that move by throwing
himself to his death.
The Luzhin Defense (the trailer)
Vladimir Nabokov
| The Luzhin Defense
Amazon
Price: $7.44 List Price: $15.00 | |
| Luzhin Defense (Penguin Modern Classics)
Amazon
Price: $9.20 | |
| La Défense Loujine
Amazon
Price: $15.99 |
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