Players of the Ancient Past: part one, Lopez

If you love chess as much as I do, you would love to know more about the origins of the game. 

Some say the game was created in India, others think it was made somewhere in Europe in the early 15 century. Whatever the case, It's a beautiful game that has captured many geniuses for many centuries. Some of the earliest games ever recorded have openings that are still played today!

One thing I love about chess is its history. When I say ancient ANCIENT past, I don't mean Steinitz, Morphy or Staunton. I don't even mean the famous ancient players Philidor and Saint Amant, or even Philidor's great teacher, Legal. I'm going waaaay back to the earliest parts of the 16th century, when chess was still in its infant stages.

In Zafra, Spain there was born a child named Ruy Lopez de Segura. This child and his brother, Alonso, were destined to become priests for the Catholic faith. One day Lopez stumbled upon Pedro Damianos famous chess manuscript. Lopez was hooked at the start. He improved to become the best player in his town, and soon he had beaten the best chess player in the entirety of Spain, Alfonso Ceron! This caught King Philip II's attention, and he was invited to play for King Phillip in the royal court of Madrid.

King Phillip of Spain was the most powerful ruler in all of Europe. Ruy Lopez would go throughout all of Europe and play the best players in the known world. If he performed well, then he would be rewarded in gold, clothing and jewelry. He was even declared a noble!

As Ruy Lopez de Segura's fame grew, he soon came to know two of Italy's finest, Poalo Boi and  Giovanni Leonardo da Cutri. At Pope Pius IV's installment in Rome in the year 1560, Lopez and Leonardo met for the first time. Next to no games have been recorded from that time, but from some internet digging I managed to pull up this one.

Lopez returned to Spain a hero. Rewarded with fame and riches, Lopez continued his domination of Spain and Europe by defeating highly thought of masters such as Alfonso Ceron and up-and-comer Pedrosa. When Pope Gregory XIII was installed in 1572, Lopez once again was invited to Rome to play against the Italian masters, and once again he crushed them effortlessly.

After many more years of Lopez's dominance, King Phillip decided to create a super tournament. He invited his champion, Lopez and other great masters such as Leonardo and Boi. The other Spanish champion invited was Alfonso Ceron.

The match went terribly for Lopez. After a loss to both Paolo Boi and Leonardo da Cutri, Lopez ended up finishing third in the tournament. Here are the standings:

       1. Giovanni Leonardo da Cutri

       2. Poalo Boi

       3. Ruy Lopez de Segura

       4. Alfonso Ceron

This officially ended Lopez'z dominance of Europe. Lopez played for a few more years, but then finally ended his chess career, and his life, in disgrace.

So as not to end on such a despondent note, I'm going to throw in a few fragments of Lopez's games in.

Roy Lopez de Segura was rightly recognized as the father of chess theory. His books and games, and even his famous opening Roy Lopez were and are very useful tools to chess players. Respect for his opponents and love for the game makes him, in my opinion, the greatest early chess player there ever was. Thanks you for reading this, I'll make a blog on Leonardo next week and good luck in chess my friends!