Defense

Vladimir Nabokov''s early novel is the dazzling story of the coarse, strange yet oddly endearing chess-playing genius Luzhin.

Discovering his prodigious gift in boyhood and rising to the rank of International Grandmaster, Luzhin develops a lyrical passion for chess that renders the real world a phantom. As he confronts the fiery, swift-swooping Italian Grandmaster Turati, he brings into play his ca...