num_pages: 266
description: 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 carefully devised defence. Making masterly play of metaphor and imagery, The Luzhin Defense is the book that, of his early works, Nabokov felt 'contains and diffuses the greatest warmth'.
language: English
title: The Luzhin Defense
titlecomplete: The Luzhin Defense
characters: Aleksandr Ivanovich Luzhin, Valentinov, Ivan Luzhin, Turati
genres: Classics, Drama, Russia, Novels, Russian Literature, 20th Century, Literature, Literary Fiction, Fiction, Chess
ratings_count: 13142
awards: awardedAt: -157737600000
name: National Book Award
category: Fiction
publisher: Penguin Books