In the heart of Moscow lies Bitsevski Park — a vast stretch of green with over 500 plant species, 33 types of mammals, and 79 species of birds. Locals come here to jog, play, and soak in nature. Among them, a quiet group gathers to play chess beneath the trees. Years ago, sat a teenage boy named Alexander Pichushkin. Quiet. Observant. He played chess with precision — not just for the love of the game, but for the control it offered. At school, he had been mocked, bullied, made to feel small. But in the park, with his fingers on the pieces, he felt powerful. No one knew that beneath his calm demeanor, a darker game was taking shape. In 1992, the first move was made. A man was found dead in the park — the beginning of a string of murders that would stretch for years. Pichushkin wasn’t just playing games anymore. He was chasing a goal: to kill as many people as there are squares on a chessboard. 64. He became known as The Chessboard Killer. This story is a grim reminder: sometimes, evil isn’t hiding in the shadows — it’s sitting across the table, waiting for your next move.
*We were able to obtain a full list of victims that was compiled and posted on a few social media sites. The names and some ages are listed below.
Full List of Victims:
July 27, 1992: Mikhail Odichuk
May 17, 2001: Yevgeny Pronin
May-June 2001: Vyacheslav Klimov
June 22, 2001: Yuri (surname unrevealed)
June 26, 2001: Nicholas Tikhomirov
June 29, 2001: Nicholas Filippov
July 2, 2001: Oleg Lvov
July 13, 2001: G.D. Safonov
July 14, 2001: Sergei Pavlov
July 20, 2001: V.P. Elistratov
July 21, 2001: Viktor Volkov, 54
July 26, 2001: Andrei Konovaltsev
January 18, 2002: Vyacheslav (surname unrevealed)
January 29, 2002: Andrew Veselovsky
February 13, 2002: Yuri Chumakov
February 23, 2002: Maria Viricheva, 19 (survived)
March 7, 2002: Boris Nesterov
March 8, 2002: Alexey Fedorov
March 10, 2002: Mikhail Lobov, 14 (survived)
August 24, 2002: G.M. Chervyakov
August 30, 2002: Egor Kudryavtsev
September 13, 2002: N.I. Ilyinsky
September 25, 2002: V.M. Minayev
September 30, 2002: S.V. Fedorov
November 2, 2002: A. Pushkov
November 12, 2002: V.N. Dolmatov
March 13, 2003: Andrei Maslov
March 27, 2003: V.P. Ilyin
April 4, 2003: Igor Kashtanov
April 6, 2003: Oleg Boyarov
May 10, 2003: V.P. Stanova
May 12, 2003: S.S. Chudin
May-October 2003: Vladimir (surname unrevealed)
October 14, 2003: Vladimir Fomin
November 14, 2003: Vladimir Fedosov
November 15, 2003: Konstantin Polikarpov (survived)
June 8, 2005: Liang Fatkulin
September 28, 2005: Yuri Kuznetsov
October 15, 2005: Nikolai Vorobyov
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