MARK RUBERY CHESS

The author Vladimir Nabokov is probably best known for his book ‘Lolita’, while his novel ‘The Defence’ is considered the finest work of fiction concerning chess. This last book reached cinema screens under the title of ‘Luzhin’s Defence’ starring John Turturro and Emily Watson (2000). A synopsis of the film from IMDB.com: ‘Set in the late 1920s, The Luzhin Defence tells the story of a shambling, unworldly chess Grand Master who arrives in the Italian Lakes to play the match of his life and unexpectedly finds the love of his life. Discovering his prodigious talent in boyhood overshadowed by his parents’ failing marriage, Luzhin’s lyrical passion for chess has become his refuge and rendered the real world a phantom. Already matched up by her family to the very suitable Comte de Stassard, when Natalia meets Luzhin, she is drawn to the erratic genius and offers him a glimpse outside of his chess obsession. But it is a world he is not equipped to deal with and his two worlds collide to tragic effect.’

Although some of the chess scenes might be considered a little over the top, critics with no interest in the game gave the film very positive reviews. The English GM, Jon Speelman, was hired to give the chess scenes an authentic touch. Nabokov was an ardent chess enthusiast with a particular leaning towards chess composition.

“Composing chess problems is a beautiful, complex and sterile art related to the ordinary form of the game only insofar as, say, the properties of a sphere are made use of both by a juggler in weaving a new act and by a tennis player in winning a tournament. Most chess players, in fact, amateurs and masters alike, are only mildly interested in these highly specialized, fanciful, stylish riddles, and though appreciative of a catchy problem would be utterly baffled if asked to compose one.”