Nabokov"s third novel, The Defense, is a chilling story of obsession and madness. As a young boy, Luzhin was unattractive,  distracted, withdrawn, sullen--an enigma to his parents and an object of ridicule to his classmates.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.