Curt von Bardeleben

Curt von Bardeleben (Berlin, 4 March 1861 – Berlin, 31 January 1924) was a Count and a German chess master who committed suicide by jumping out of a window in 1924. His life and death were the basis for that of the main character in the novel The Defense by Vladimir Nabokov, which was made into the movie The Luzhin Defence. He edited the magazine Deutsche Schachzeitung from 1887 through 1891.

He tied for first place with Riemann at Leipzig 1888, tied for first place with Walbrodt at Kiel 1893, was first at Berlin (SV Centrum) 1897, and tied for first place with Schlechter and Swiderski at Coburg 1904.

He is perhaps best known for the game he lost to the former world champion Wilhelm Steinitz at Hastings 1895, especially because he just left the tournament room instead of resigning:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. O-O Be6 10. Bg5 Be7 11. Bxd5 Bxd5 12. Nxd5 Qxd5 13. Bxe7 Nxe7 14. Re1 f6 15. Qe2 Qd7 16. Rac1 c6 17. d5 cxd5 18. Nd4 Kf7 19. Ne6 Rhc8 20. Qg4 g6 21. Ng5+ Ke8 22. Rxe7+ Kf8 23. Rf7+ Kg8 24. Rg7+ 1-0

External links

• Curt von Bardeleben player profile at ChessGames.com

Persondata
Name	Bardeleben, Curt von
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	4 March 1861
Place of birth
Date of death	31 January 1924
Place of death