THE CHESS BOARD KILLER

This is the true story of a serial killer whom was a victim of child bullying and abuse. A soul who had the choice to either let go or consume, show and do. This is story of Alexander Pichushkin.

1. Alexander Yuryevich Pichushkin, also known as the Chessboard Killer and the Bitsa Park Maniac, is a Russian serial killer and former warehouse worker who is believed to have killed at least forty-nine people, and possibly as many as sixty, between 1992 and 2006. Pichushkin was active in Moscow's Bitsa Park, where a number of the victims' bodies were found. Pichushkin was born on 9 April 1974 in Mytishchi, Moscow Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, and grew up on 2 Khersonskaya Street in Moscow proper. He lived there with his mother, Natalia Elmouradovna, his younger half-sister, her husband, and their son in a two-bedroom apartment on the fifth floor. Their apartment building was a six-minute walk from the north end of Bitsa Park. Pichushkin was not a troubled child except for one incident that changed his life forever............ he was swinging when he fell backwards and hit his head once on the ground, and as he got up, he hit his head once again as the swing swung upwards. Due to this, Alexander was rushed to the hospital, where the doctors found out that his 'frontal cortex ' was damaged. The frontal cortex is the front-most region of the brain, forming the largest part of the cerebral cortex and playing a central role in higher-order cognitive functions. It is responsible for executive functions such as decision-making, planning, problem-solving, attention, self-control, emotional regulation, and social behavior. This specific part of Pichushkin's brain was greatly damaged, so much so that Pichushkin became more impulsive and had a low tolerance, his emotions deregulated, and he became more emotionally fragile. As a solution for his peculiar behaviour, his mother Natalia Pichushkin decided to send Pichushkin to a school specially made for disabled children, where Pichushkin was not welcomed warmly. Kids bullied him verbally as well as physically, calling him names like " that retard ". Pichushkin was really infected by this behaviour; he grew more vulnerable and silent, and he only had one friend at that school. Judging by this factor, it's easy to say that Pichushkin never told his parents or relatives about his constant abuse at school and kept this thing as a secret, which was the first problem. Since Pichushkin kept this to himself, he only grew more emotional, and anger started piling up beneath his skull. He wanted to take revenge; he wanted to feel greater, more powerful. But as you may know, bullying only gets worse; it also did in this case, pichushkin's couldn't stand up for himself, and he didn't get any support whatsoever. His aggression only grew more and more. On the good side of this story, his maternal grandfather noticed that Pichushkin was highly intelligent and, in fact, a great chess player. After teaching him the basics of chess as well as how to play, Pichushkin played with a few elderly men at the Bista Park, where he won almost all of the matches. He was named “ The chessboard killer” because he would kill people based on the number of squares a chessboard contained. He murdered people as he was playing a game of chess; each move was strategically planned, and he knew that in this game… he would most likely win.

   

2. It was done, Pichushkin finally found a way to release his aggression; it was chess, his only escape from reality. He could crush the opponents with his moves and leave them shaken. Such great talent at his age was rarely found; despite this, he was still bullied, much worse now, but he continued his passion for chess. By the end of his adolescence, Pichushkin's grandfather died; this loss deeply affected Pichushkin. The pain of his loss and his brain’s tendency towards emotions got worse over time. To ease his pain, he began consuming large quantities of alcohol, generally vodka. He still played chess at the park, now with more men, while drinking vodka; unlike others, the alcohol barely affected him while playing. In between this, Pichushkin developed a weird habit; he began bulliying children, reflecting his child abuse on other kids who went to the park. He used to carry a video camera alongside and film kids while holding them by the ankle. Kids hang upside down as he recorded himself saying, " You are in my power now... I am going to drop you from the window... and you will fall fifteen meters to your death...". These are the exact words said by Pichushkin in a video recovered from his camera, and he would repeatedly watch these recordings to satisfy his feeling of superiority. However, this became too little to fulfill his urges. On one calm evening in 27 th of July, 1992, Pichushkin invited one of his classmates, Mikhail Odïtchuk, to come and play chess with him at the bista park, Mikhail Odïtchuk. But at the last moment, Odïtchuk changed his plan and didn't join Pichushkin, feeling teased and betrayed by his friend. Pichushkin strangled Odïtchuk, killing him on the spot, and threw his body in the sewage entrance inside Bista Park. Then he returned home as usual, 3 days later, Pichushkin was arrested and taken to be interrogated. Pichushkin confirmed having met with Odïtchuk but claimed to have left him unharmed in the park. With no evidence tying him to the disappearance, Pichushkin was released shortly after. And just like that, Pichushkin kept doing murder after murder, with no one ever suspecting him. His wishes were fulfilled, but at the cost of many innocent lives. Although we can’t ignore the fact that Pichushkin was bullied, killing innocent lives was his choice. He could’ve gotten help. He could’ve released his emotions in any other way, but he chose not to. And on October 29, 2007, Alexander Pichushkin was sentenced to life imprisonment, a punishment he would serve for the rest of his life. That is the cost of not releasing your emotions, keeping them hidden beneath your skin and skull. That is the cost of denying the things you committed. And with that……This was the case of Alexander Pichushkin, A.K.A. The chessboard killer.