The defense : a novel / Vladimir Nabokov

Título original: Zashchita Luzhina

[Español] Cuando era niño, Luzhin era poco atractivo, distraído, retraído y hosco: un enigma para sus padres y objeto de burla para sus compañeros de clase. Toma el ajedrez como refugio de la ansiedad de su vida cotidiana. Su talento es prodigioso y asciende al rango de gran maestro, pero a un precio: en la mente obsesiva de Luzhin, el juego de ajedrez suplanta gradualmente al mundo de la realidad. Su propio mundo se desmorona durante un partido crucial por el campeonato, cuando la intrincada defensa que ha ideado se debilita bajo las inesperadas e impredecibles líneas de ataque de su oponente.

[English] As a young boy, Luzhin was unattractive, distracted, withdrawn, sullen--an enigma to his parents and an object of ridicule to his classmates. He takes up chess as a refuge from the anxiety of his everyday life. His talent is prodigious and he rises to the rank of grandmaster--but at a cost: in Luzhin' s obsessive mind, the game of chess gradually supplants the world of reality. His own world falls apart during a crucial championship match, when the intricate defense he has devised withers under his opponent's unexpected and unpredictabke lines of assault.