Chess History - Early Modern Writers: Ruy Lopez, Part III

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Chess History - Early modern writers: Ruy Lopez, Part III

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Sarah Beth

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Batgirl Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2004 2:08 pm Post subject: Chess History - Early modern writers: Ruy Lopez, Part III

Ruy Lopez died around 1580.

Before we get into the further adventures of il Puttino and il Siracusano, who never wrote anything, we should follow the Joined: 06 Dec 2003 Posts: 165 theme of "chess writers" and look at their friend Polerio whose Location: North Carolina writting revolutionized chess literature.

Giulio Cesare Polerio never wrote a book.

As mentioned, l'Abruzzese was born in 1548 in in Lanciano, a town in the Abruzzo region of Italy. As a young man, he

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accompanied his mentor, Leonardo di Bono, to Madrid and was present when Il Puttino defeated Ruy Lopez. After this event, Leonardo (and Boi) went to Portugal and eventually back to Italy but Polerio remained in Spain for a while.

Finally returning to Italy, he gained a position at Torricella, the home of Giacomo Boncompagni, the Duke of Sora who was Pope Gregory XIII's (Ugo Boncompagni) illegitimate son. (Gregory raised his two nephew's to the position of Cardinal and had plans to eventually make his son King of Ireland. Unfortunately for Giacomo, these plans fell through.)There he received a stipend of 300 scudi per year. Giacomo Boncompagni was one of the great patrons of chess during the Renaissance.

Polerio, indeed, never published a book, but he wrote many manuscripts between 1572 and 1584 which he collated and dedicated to the Duke of Sora called the Manuscrito Buoncompagno and another group called Trattato degli scacchi dell'Abruzzese in 1594. These manuscripts contain 148 games, 38 problems and a 36 versed poem by Rotilio Gracco. It includes games Leonardo di Bono, Paolo Boi, Ruy Lopez, Alfonso Cerón, Giovanni Doménico d'Arminio, Santa Maria, il Sadoleto, Busnardo and the count of Ávalos. He also demostrates such opening as the Muzio, the Sicilian, the Scandinavian, the Berlin Defense, the 2 Knight and 4 Knight defenses and the Fried Liver Attack.

Polerio was considered one of the strongest players at the end of the 16th century. Around 1606 he was beaten in Rome by Dr. Geronimo Cascio (born in 1571 in Piazza Armerina in Enna, Sicily -supposedly demostrated the Muzio variation to Senor Muzio who showed it to Salvio. Cascio previously lost to Salvio and in losing was forced to pay the debts of his unsavory backers who bet on him to win. After defeating Polerio, though, he was given a position in the palace of Jacopo Boncompagni at 250 scudi/ year. In 1620, he beat il Marano, a leading player of the day).

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Polerio died in 1608.

His manuscripts served two purposes:

● 1. They indicate how far chess had progressed since Ruy Lopez's treastise, and precisely at what point it stood.

● 2. Polerio's work was so analytical that it served as a foundation for subsequent chess literature.

Polerio's impressive work included the first known mention of:

● The Sicilian Defense 1.e4 c5

● The King's Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f4

❍ In addition to the main line, Polerio investigated:

■ The Polerio(Muzio)Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3 g5 5.d4

■ KGA/Kieseritsky/Polerio defence (C39) 1.e4 e5 2.f4 ef 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 Be7

● The Two Knights Defense:

❍ The Fegatello or Fried Liver Attack (Fegatello de Polerio): 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.ed Nxd5 6. Nxf7!? Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Ke6 8.Nc3 Ne7

❍ Polerio Variation of the Two Knights Defense: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+

● The Dutch Defense

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( so named for Elias Stein, a Hollander, who analyzed the opening extensively circa 1789) 1.d4 f5

● Irregular King's Knight/Latvian: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bc4 fxe4 4.Nxe5 d5

According to Mark Week's (the About.com chess guide and longtime internet chess history influence) Chess Bibliography page, Polerio had three separate Codices [a codex is a book handmade by binding parchment leaves together]: [list] [*]1570 Polerio (G. C.) Questo libro e di Giulio Cesare Polerio Lancianese al suo comando e del amici à presso 19th cent. copy by Jean Preti of codex (c.1560-80), Biblioth. Nationale, Paris, Manuscrits italiens no 955 (2669 suppl.) 81 leaves.

[*]1590 Polerio (G. C.) Poche fatiche raccolte in diverse parti d'Europa intorno al gioco di scacchi 19th century copy by Coletti of ff. 333a-481a of Codex Boncompagni-Ludovisi N 3 at Rome 150 leaves. (c. 1590)

[*]1594 Polerio (G. C.) Ordini di giuochi degli scacchi indiversi modi 19th century copy by Jean Preti of a manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris, Manuscrits otaliens no 948 (8109-5). 57 lvs Roma 1594

Some games and fragments of Giulio Cesare Polerio

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Special Bonus! Here's a game by Busnardo, one of the leading players of the 16th century

[Event "Rome"] [Date "1590.??.??"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Busnardo"] [Black "NN"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Qe7 5.O-O d6 6.d4 Bb6 7.Bg5 f6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 fxg5 10.Qh5+ Kd7 11.Bxg5 Qg7 12.Be6+ Kxe6 13.Qe8+ Nge7 14.d5+ 1-0

~Batgirl

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