Ruy López de Segura
Encyclopedia
Rodrigo López de Segura (c. 1530 – c. 1580) was a Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 priest and later bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 in Segura
Segura
Segura is a medium-sized river in southeastern Spain.It starts at Santiago Pontones , passes Calasparra, Cieza, Murcia, Beniaján, Orihuela, Rojales and ends in the Mediterranean Sea near Guardamar del Segura in the province of Alicante...

 whose 1561 book Libro de la invención liberal y arte del juego del Axedrez
Libro de la invencion liberal y arte del juego del axedrez
Libro de la invencion liberal y arte del juego del axedrez is one of the first books published about modern chess in Europe, after Pedro Damiano's 1512 book. It was written by Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura in 1561 and published in Alcalá de Henares.-Details:In 1560 Ruy López visited Rome and...

 was one of the first definitive books about modern chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 in Europe, only after Pedro Damiano
Pedro Damiano
Pedro Damiano was a Portuguese chess player who lived from 1480 to 1544. A native of Odemira, he was a pharmacist by profession...

's 1512 book.

He was born in Zafra
Zafra
Zafra is a town situated in the Province of Badajoz , and the capital of the comarca of Zafra - Río Bodión. It has a population of 16,242, according to the figures of 2009....

 near Badajoz
Badajoz
Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain, situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana, and the Madrid–Lisbon railway. The population in 2007 was 145,257....

, probably of Converso
Converso
A converso and its feminine form conversa was a Jew or Muslim—or a descendant of Jews or Muslims—who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries. Mass conversions once took place under significant government pressure...

 Jewish descent, and he studied and lived in Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...

. Considered by many to be the first unofficial world chess champion
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....

, as he won the first modern chess tournament in Madrid. In 1574-75 he lost matches to Leonardo di Bona, a Roman lawyer, and to Paolo Boi
Paolo Boi
Paolo Boi was an Italian chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest chess players of the 16th century.He was born in Syracuse, Sicily and died in Naples.-External links:...

.

Contributions to opening

Some chess openings are named after Lopez. The Ruy Lopez Opening
Ruy Lopez
The Ruy Lopez, also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:The opening is named after the 16th century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura, who made a systematic study of this and other openings in the 150-page book on chess Libro del...

 (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5) is named after him, as is a variation in the Petroff Defence (1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Qe7).
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK