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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Luzhin's fiancee's mother tell him that he should do, when he comes to her home early and only she is there?
(a) Win the tournament.
(b) Quit playing chess.
(c) Leave Berlin.
(d) Take a bath.

2. When Luzhin comes back to his family's house, where in the house does he hide?
(a) The attic.
(b) The cellar.
(c) The sewing room.
(d) The carriage house.

3. How old is young Luzhin at the beginning of the novel?
(a) 12.
(b) 9.
(c) 11.
(d) 10.

4. What important historical events does Luzhin's father feel inhibited by having to include in every novel?
(a) World War I and World War II.
(b) World War I and the Russian revolution.
(c) World War I and the Armenian genocide.
(d) World War I and the Great Depression.

5. What kind of puzzles does Luzhin enjoy doing?
(a) Jigsaw puzzles.
(b) Crossword puzzles.
(c) Jumbles.
(d) Cryptograms.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Luzhin place in the German chess tournament in his youth?

2. Luzhin spectacularly wins a chess game in Berlin after sacrificing what three pieces in a row?

3. What kind of party does Luzhin's father give in honor of Luzhin's grandfather?

4. What does Luzhin do immediately after proposing to his future wife?

5. What present does Luzhin's fiancee bring to him at his hotel room?

Short Essay Questions

1. What ability does Luzhin compare his ability to read chess notation with?

2. Before playing with his son, how does Luzhin's father consider his own chess abilities?

3. What problem does Luzhin have getting to his game with his final rival?

4. What is on Luzhin's father's mind during his first chess games with his son?

5. The morning after the party, what are relations like between Luzhin's father, his aunt, and his mother?

6. Who does Luzhin nearly run into on the first day he skips school?

7. What does Luzhin ask his fiancee to do, on the second day she comes to his Berlin chess tournament?

8. Explain the nickname that the other boys give Luzhin at school.

9. How does Luzhin react to being caught cutting school?

10. When Luzhin watches the chess game between his classmates, what move excites him?

(see the answer keys)

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