Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0009421, Sun, 14 Mar 2004 13:00:42 -0800

Subject
Fw: Fw: "Nabokov's Theme", Chess Life, March 2004, P. 25
Date
Body
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles Nicol" <ejnicol@isugw.indstate.edu>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (54
lines) ------------------
> Glad to see Chess Life now appreciates "The Defense." It gave the book a
luke-warm review forty years ago. --Chaz (former tournament player)
>
> ==================
>
>
>
> >>> chtodel@cox.net 3/11/2004 6:53:35 PM >>>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Patrice Summers" <summers@dramadance.ucsb.edu>
> To: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@cox.net>
> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 12:55 PM
> Subject: "Nabokov's Theme", Chess Life, March 2004, P. 25
>
>
> > VN was cited in the March 2004 issue of "Chess Life", p. 25,in a
> brief
> > article attributed to "KP":
> >
> > The great American novelist, Vladimir Nabokov, composed chess
> problems
> > which were published in his book, "Poems and Problems". He probably
> was a
> > relatively weak over-the-board player; however, he had enough
> appreciation
> > and chess literacy to write perhaps the best of all novels with chess
> as
> > its center, "The Defense", as it is known in English.
> >
> > One of his problems is a mate in three. Nabokov explains: "The
> point of
> > this problem...consists in that Black's R clears the way for White's
> mating
> > piece by capturing an intervening whitey, so that when it (Black's
> R)
> > returns to its initial square, it can be captured with mate. This is
> the
> > so-called 'Nabokov's theme.'"
> >
> > The key is 1 Kf7:
> > 1...Rxh4 2 Kxf6 Rh6+ 3 Qxh6#.
> > 1...Kxf5 2 Nxe3+ Kf4 3 Qf2#.
> > 1...any 2 Ke6 any 3 Bxe3#.
> >
> > "Nabokov also gives as the best try: 1Nxe3 Rxh4 2 Qxh4 h5!"
> >
> > PS: Lack of formatting due to Mulberry e-mail program.
> >
> >
> > Patrice Summers
> > Administrative/Financial Asst.
> > Dramatic Art/Dance
> > University of California, Santa Barbara
> > 805/893-5508