The Luneberg Variation - Maurensig, Paolo

An [initially] anonymous narrator describes the death of a successful Munich businessman, Dieter Frisch, found shot at his weekend villa in Vienna. The investigation concludes this was suicide although no note was left. The only clue is a crude chessboard, created from 'light and dark patches of coarse cloth sewn together'. The chess pieces themselves were 'made of buttons rudely etched, apparently with a nail, and arranged on the makeshift board in a complicated midgame position.' The narrator then informs the reader that 'No one has considered the possibility that Frisch's death was an execution, albeit deferred in space and time. Nor did anyone realize that his note was encoded in that chess position, and still less that it was addressed to the judge who had just sentenced him to die.'

Hardcover. English. Phoenix. 1998. 140pp. In good condition.