Alessandro Salvio (c. 1570 – c. 1640) was an Italian chess player who is considered to be the unofficial world champion around the year 1600. He started an Italian chess academy in Naples, Italy, and wrote a book called Trattato dell’Inventione et Arte Liberale del Gioco Degli Scacchi, which was published in Naples in 1604. He also wrote Il Puttino published in 1634.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Salvio
Giovanni Leonardo di Bona or Giovanni Leonardo da Cutri (both given names can be seen also in the reversed order Leonardo Giovanni), known as Il Puttino (Italian Small Child) (1542 – 1587) was an early Italian chess master.
Giovanni Leonardo was born in Cutro, Calabria. He studied law in Rome. In 1560, he lost a match to Ruy López in Rome. In 1566-1572, he travelled and played chess in Rome, Genoa, Marseille, Barcelona. He had played many times against Paolo Boi in Italy and they were regarded as being equal in their chess strength.
Giovanni Leonardo di Bona won the first known international master tournament in the history of chess in Madrid in 1575, therefore becoming the strongest chess master of the time. After their success at the Court of Spain, Leonardo and Paolo Boi, both travelled, although separately, to Lisbon, where they tested their chess skill against Il Moro, the eminent chess champion of King Don Sebastian, of Portugal. Again, they both succeded, first Leonardo, soon followed by Paolo Boi, in defeating Il Moro.
And again the King was generous with his rewards. After this triumph, Giovanni Leonardo di Bona, having been called the wandering knight (Il Cavaliere errante) by King Don Sebastian, left Portugal to return to ltaly and settle in Naples where he became the chess master for the Prince of Bisignano.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Leonardo_da_Cutri
Paolo Boi (1528-1598) was an Italian chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest chess players of the 16th century. He beat the Pope.
He was born in Syracuse and died in Naples.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Boi
Ruy López de Segura (1530 –1580) was a Spanish priest and later bishop in Segura whose book Libro de la invención liberal y arte del juego del Axedrez was one of the first fundamental chess books in Europe, only after Pedro Damiano’s.
He was born in Zafra near Badajoz, and he studied and lived in Salamanca. Considered by many to be the first unofficial world chess champion, as he won the first modern chess tournament in Madrid. He would later lose the title to Leonardo di Bona, a Roman lawyer.
The Ruy Lopez Opening is named after him.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruy_L%C3%B3pez_de_Segura
Pedro Damiano (in Portuguese, Pedro Damião; Damiano is the Italian form, much like the Latin Damianus) was a Portuguese chess player who lived from 1480-1544. He wrote one of the first chess books, published in Rome, Italy in 1512 and entitled Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de li partiti. The book analyzes a few openings, suggesting that after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 the reply 2…Nc6 is best and 2…d6 (now called the Philidor Defence) is not as good. Damiano rightly condemned 2…f6 as the worst defence, but ironically and unfairly this opening has been given his name (Damiano Defence).
In this book Damião suggested chess was invented by Xerxes which would be the reason why it was known in Portuguese as Xadrez and in Spanish as Ajedrez. In fact, these words come from old Persian chaturanga via Arabic xaţrandj.
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Luis Ramirez de Lucena (c.1465 – c.1530) was a leading Spanish chess player. He wrote the oldest existing printed book on chess, Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez, published in Salamanca in 1497.
The Lucena position is named after him, even though it does not appear in his book.
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Comments by Victor Korchnoi on Bobby Fischer and some of his recent outbursts.
Anatoly Karpov on his thoughts as to why Bobby Fischer refused to defend his world champion status against Karpov in 1975.
A very short video clip of a young Bobby Fischer giving a simultaneous chess exhibition.
A short video selection with Bobby’s thoughts on the Russians and their attacking of his character when he was playing Tal.
