Giulio Polerio
Encyclopedia
Giulio Cesare Polerio was an Italian
chess
theoretician and player.
Name affixes used for him are l'Apruzzese, Giu[o]lio Cesare da Lanciano (Salvio/Walker), and Lancianese, because he was born in Lanciano
, a town in the Chieti province of the Abruzzo
region of Italy.
The first printed matter, in which the name Giulio Cesare da Lanciano occurs, is the so called "Il Puttino
" of Alessandro Salvio
published first in 1634. The story recounted in Il Puttino
must have occurred around 1575, thus, published by Salvio some 60 years later. "Il Puttino, altramente detto il Cavaliere errante" is a nickname used by Alessandro Salvio for Giovanni Leonardo. According to Alessandro Salvio, Giulio Cesare da Lanciano accompanied Giovanni Leonardo on on his way to Madrid
until Genoa
.
After returning to Rome around 1584, Polerio became a chess player and writer in ordinary of Giacomo Boncompagni
, Duke of Sora and son of Pope Gregory XIII (born Ugo Boncompagni)
.
Polerio wrote a number of codex
es in which a lively international chess is described (exchanges of ideas among Italy, Portugal, and Spain). In these codexes, besides of own and new ideas in chess opening
s, some matches played by himself are noted by the hand of Polerio.
In the Puttino, Salvio mentions that, starting in 1606 from "Città di Piazza", after a long travel on his way to Rome (p. 43) ... (p. 44: "il detto Signor Cascio poi andando a Roma, vinse Giulio Cesare compagno del Puttino il primo a Roma, in casa dell'Eccelenza del Sig. Giacobo Buoncompagno Duca di Sora") this Mr. Geronimo Cascio, on his way to Rome, beat Giulio Cesare (Polerio), companion of Il Puttino, the best in Rome, in the house/court of his Excellence Giacomo Boncompagni
, Duke of Sora.
The current systematics of the Codexes of Polerio has been performed and published by Alessandro Sanvito in 2005.
es, described and called A-G by Van der Linde, and attributed to Polerio in 1874, had major impact on the further description of chess history, and history of chess theory. A relevant part of the work of Van der Linde was to compare Codexes of Polerio and Gioacchino Greco
even superfine. According to this investigation, most of the analytic work of Polerio was mediated outside of Italy, up to 1874, via Gioacchino Greco. The clue, which potentially could link both chess players, may be seen in the person Giacomo Boncompagni
, or the Duchy of Sora
respectively.
"D. Polerio-Gambit
224
1. e2-e4 e7-e5
2. f2-f4 e5-f4:
3. Sg1-f3 g7-g5
4. Lf1-c4 g5-g4
5. 0-0! g4-f3:
6. Dd1-f3: e cosi ancor che habbia perso un pezzo resta con buonissima postura di poter uencere il gioco sapendo guidarlo à presso, il che sarebbe superfluo inogni modo se si uolesse mostrare la fine di tutti giochi, e per questo basta insino à un certo che, tanto che si conosca apartemente il uantagio del gioco, si come per la postura di dette giochi ogni giudicioso giocatore lo potrà facilmente cognoscere.")
... in modern terms:
"Polerio Gambit: 1. e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0-0! gxf3 6.Qxf3 +/-"
Exactly this move order was also found later even in a second Polerio Codex
discovered and described by J.A. Leon in 1894.
Of note is that the position after 1. e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0-0 gxf3 6.Qxf3 may be considered by most recent grandmasters as a forced win for White - provided that 5.0-0 would mean "free castling
", i.e. bringing the White King from e1 to h1. Actually, Polerio did claim 5.0-0 gxf3 6.Qxf3 to be favourable for White although the White King of Polerio did stand, after 5.0-0, on g1 but not on h1 (i.e. castling as defined in our days).
However, in 1874, the move order 1. e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0-0! was already occupied by the term "Muzio Gambit". This term derives from a translation of a work of Alessandro Salvio
, supposedly the third book of the reprint of 1723, by Sarrat in 1813. On page 209 Jacob Henry Sarratt
(translated) and wrote:
"SALVIO states that the following Gambit was sent to him by Signor Muzio, ..."
Actually, Alessandro Salvio
never stated this. Rather, in the third book of the Il Puttino he wrote that Signor Mut io d'Alessandro did see that Geronimo Cascio did play the move order (with free castling, also called "Italian method" of castling).
With p. 165, vol. 2, of the 1821 edition of A New Treatise of the Game of Chess the term Muzio Gambit was coined by Jacob Henry Sarratt
. And with the latter work of Sarrat, in 1821 the modern theory of the "Muzio Gambit" with castling according modern rules started - an idea and a position already Polerio analysed in 1579/80.
Thus, Antonius van der Linde, changed the view on the historical development of the move order 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0-0 in 1874, most notably in the last editions of the Handbuch
. Thereafter, a trend can be seen to call this move order either with hypenated terms such as Muzio-Polerio, Polerio-Muzio, or simply Polerio Gambit. Such a terminology
is both in honour of Giulio Cesare Polerio and partially missleading since the major body of the theory of this opening was generated in the time span in-between 1821 and 1874. The number of games played by Adolf Anderssen
, Paul Morphy
, and Wilhelm Steinitz
with 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0-0 or 5.d4 in the time span 1821-1874 was already rather high. The rules for Chess opening nomenclature, and their historical development, should be taken into account while assessing van der Linde's claim of 1874 "D. Polerio-Gambit".
(1864, S.. 366, § 3)" this move order is called "das Gambit des Calabresen". This is a rather interesting observation since in the "Handbuch"
in its 2nd edition as of 1852, on p. 205 it is mentioned that the move order 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 f5 can be found "at the Calabrese". That's a rather wise wording since both 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 f5 and 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5, according to Codexes of Polerio, occurred in games of "Gio. Leonardo" (games 236-238, p. 190 in van der Linde). Both Giovanni Leonardo and Gioacchino Greco
derived from Calabria
, the first from Cutro
, the second from Celico
(?).
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
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...
theoretician and player.
Name affixes used for him are l'Apruzzese, Giu[o]lio Cesare da Lanciano (Salvio/Walker), and Lancianese, because he was born in Lanciano
Lanciano
Lanciano is a town and comune in the province of Chieti, part of the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It has 36,570 inhabitants as of 2008.The city is also known for the first recorded alleged Catholic Eucharistic Miracle.-History:...
, a town in the Chieti province of the Abruzzo
Abruzzo
Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...
region of Italy.
Polerio as a chess player
Il Puttino
Il Puttino is a book published by Alessandro Salvio in 1634, full title:IL PVTTINOAltramente detto,IL CAVALIERO ERRANTEDEL SALVIO,Sopra il gioco de'Scacchi, con la sua Apologia contra il Carrera, diuiso in tre Libri. IN NAPOLI, Nella Stampa di Gio: Domenico Montanaro. 1634...
" of Alessandro Salvio
Alessandro Salvio
Alessandro Salvio 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...
published first in 1634. The story recounted in Il Puttino
Il Puttino
Il Puttino is a book published by Alessandro Salvio in 1634, full title:IL PVTTINOAltramente detto,IL CAVALIERO ERRANTEDEL SALVIO,Sopra il gioco de'Scacchi, con la sua Apologia contra il Carrera, diuiso in tre Libri. IN NAPOLI, Nella Stampa di Gio: Domenico Montanaro. 1634...
must have occurred around 1575, thus, published by Salvio some 60 years later. "Il Puttino, altramente detto il Cavaliere errante" is a nickname used by Alessandro Salvio for Giovanni Leonardo. According to Alessandro Salvio, Giulio Cesare da Lanciano accompanied Giovanni Leonardo on on his way to Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
until Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
.
After returning to Rome around 1584, Polerio became a chess player and writer in ordinary of Giacomo Boncompagni
Giacomo Boncompagni
Giacomo Boncompagni was an Italian feudal lord of the 16th century, the illegitimate son of Pope Gregory XIII . He was also Duke of Sora, Aquino, Arce and Arpino, and Marquess of Vignola.A member of the Boncompagni family, he was a patron of arts and culture...
, Duke of Sora and son of Pope Gregory XIII (born Ugo Boncompagni)
Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII , born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally-accepted civil calendar to this date.-Youth:He was born the son of Cristoforo Boncompagni and wife Angela...
.
Polerio wrote a number of codex
Codex
A codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with multiple quires or gatherings typically bound together and given a cover.Developed by the Romans from wooden writing tablets, its gradual replacement...
es in which a lively international chess is described (exchanges of ideas among Italy, Portugal, and Spain). In these codexes, besides of own and new ideas in chess opening
Chess opening
A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
s, some matches played by himself are noted by the hand of Polerio.
In the Puttino, Salvio mentions that, starting in 1606 from "Città di Piazza", after a long travel on his way to Rome (p. 43) ... (p. 44: "il detto Signor Cascio poi andando a Roma, vinse Giulio Cesare compagno del Puttino il primo a Roma, in casa dell'Eccelenza del Sig. Giacobo Buoncompagno Duca di Sora") this Mr. Geronimo Cascio, on his way to Rome, beat Giulio Cesare (Polerio), companion of Il Puttino, the best in Rome, in the house/court of his Excellence Giacomo Boncompagni
Giacomo Boncompagni
Giacomo Boncompagni was an Italian feudal lord of the 16th century, the illegitimate son of Pope Gregory XIII . He was also Duke of Sora, Aquino, Arce and Arpino, and Marquess of Vignola.A member of the Boncompagni family, he was a patron of arts and culture...
, Duke of Sora.
The Codexes of Giulio Cesare Polerio
The first systematic investigation of the Codexes of Polerio was published by Antonius van der Linde in 1874. The subject of the investigations by Van der Linde can be found at the Bibliotheca Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana, part of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, National Library of the Netherlands.The current systematics of the Codexes of Polerio has been performed and published by Alessandro Sanvito in 2005.
Impact of Polerio on chess history and theory (before 1874)
The systematic organisation of overall seven CodexCodex
A codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with multiple quires or gatherings typically bound together and given a cover.Developed by the Romans from wooden writing tablets, its gradual replacement...
es, described and called A-G by Van der Linde, and attributed to Polerio in 1874, had major impact on the further description of chess history, and history of chess theory. A relevant part of the work of Van der Linde was to compare Codexes of Polerio and Gioacchino Greco
Gioacchino Greco
Gioachino Greco was an Italian chess player and writer. He recorded some of the first chess games known, 77 in total...
even superfine. According to this investigation, most of the analytic work of Polerio was mediated outside of Italy, up to 1874, via Gioacchino Greco. The clue, which potentially could link both chess players, may be seen in the person Giacomo Boncompagni
Giacomo Boncompagni
Giacomo Boncompagni was an Italian feudal lord of the 16th century, the illegitimate son of Pope Gregory XIII . He was also Duke of Sora, Aquino, Arce and Arpino, and Marquess of Vignola.A member of the Boncompagni family, he was a patron of arts and culture...
, or the Duchy of Sora
Duchy of Sora
The Duchy of Sora was a semi-independent state in Italy, created in 1443 by King Alfonso I of Naples and dissolved in 1796. It occupied the south-eastern part of what is today Lazio, bordering what is now Abruzzo...
respectively.
Polerio Gambit
On p. 186 of "Das Schachspiel des XVI. Jahrhunderts" van der Linde wrote in 1874:"D. Polerio-Gambit
224
1. e2-e4 e7-e5
2. f2-f4 e5-f4:
3. Sg1-f3 g7-g5
4. Lf1-c4 g5-g4
5. 0-0! g4-f3:
6. Dd1-f3: e cosi ancor che habbia perso un pezzo resta con buonissima postura di poter uencere il gioco sapendo guidarlo à presso, il che sarebbe superfluo inogni modo se si uolesse mostrare la fine di tutti giochi, e per questo basta insino à un certo che, tanto che si conosca apartemente il uantagio del gioco, si come per la postura di dette giochi ogni giudicioso giocatore lo potrà facilmente cognoscere.")
... in modern terms:
"Polerio Gambit: 1. e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0-0! gxf3 6.Qxf3 +/-"
Exactly this move order was also found later even in a second Polerio Codex
Codex
A codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with multiple quires or gatherings typically bound together and given a cover.Developed by the Romans from wooden writing tablets, its gradual replacement...
discovered and described by J.A. Leon in 1894.
Of note is that the position after 1. e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0-0 gxf3 6.Qxf3 may be considered by most recent grandmasters as a forced win for White - provided that 5.0-0 would mean "free castling
Castling
Castling is a special move in the game of chess involving the king and either of the original rooks of the same color. It is the only move in chess in which a player moves two pieces at the same time. Castling consists of moving the king two squares towards a rook on the player's first rank, then...
", i.e. bringing the White King from e1 to h1. Actually, Polerio did claim 5.0-0 gxf3 6.Qxf3 to be favourable for White although the White King of Polerio did stand, after 5.0-0, on g1 but not on h1 (i.e. castling as defined in our days).
However, in 1874, the move order 1. e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0-0! was already occupied by the term "Muzio Gambit". This term derives from a translation of a work of Alessandro Salvio
Alessandro Salvio
Alessandro Salvio 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...
, supposedly the third book of the reprint of 1723, by Sarrat in 1813. On page 209 Jacob Henry Sarratt
Jacob Sarratt
Jacob Henry Sarratt was one of the top English chess players of the late 18th and early 19th century. Sarratt was renowned as a player and author and adopted the title "Professor of Chess" . He was the first professional player to teach chess in England...
(translated) and wrote:
"SALVIO states that the following Gambit was sent to him by Signor Muzio, ..."
Actually, Alessandro Salvio
Alessandro Salvio
Alessandro Salvio 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...
never stated this. Rather, in the third book of the Il Puttino he wrote that Signor Mut io d'Alessandro did see that Geronimo Cascio did play the move order (with free castling, also called "Italian method" of castling).
With p. 165, vol. 2, of the 1821 edition of A New Treatise of the Game of Chess the term Muzio Gambit was coined by Jacob Henry Sarratt
Jacob Sarratt
Jacob Henry Sarratt was one of the top English chess players of the late 18th and early 19th century. Sarratt was renowned as a player and author and adopted the title "Professor of Chess" . He was the first professional player to teach chess in England...
. And with the latter work of Sarrat, in 1821 the modern theory of the "Muzio Gambit" with castling according modern rules started - an idea and a position already Polerio analysed in 1579/80.
Thus, Antonius van der Linde, changed the view on the historical development of the move order 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0-0 in 1874, most notably in the last editions of the Handbuch
Handbuch des Schachspiels
Handbuch des Schachspiels is a chess book, first published in 1843 by Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa. It was one of the most important opening references for many decades...
. Thereafter, a trend can be seen to call this move order either with hypenated terms such as Muzio-Polerio, Polerio-Muzio, or simply Polerio Gambit. Such a terminology
Terminology
Terminology is the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that in specific contexts are given specific meanings, meanings that may deviate from the meaning the same words have in other contexts and in everyday language. The discipline Terminology studies among other...
is both in honour of Giulio Cesare Polerio and partially missleading since the major body of the theory of this opening was generated in the time span in-between 1821 and 1874. The number of games played by Adolf Anderssen
Adolf Anderssen
Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master. He is considered to have been the world's leading chess player in the 1850s and 1860s...
, Paul Morphy
Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was a chess prodigy...
, and Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz was an Austrian and then American chess player and the first undisputed world chess champion from 1886 to 1894. From the 1870s onwards, commentators have debated whether Steinitz was effectively the champion earlier...
with 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0-0 or 5.d4 in the time span 1821-1874 was already rather high. The rules for Chess opening nomenclature, and their historical development, should be taken into account while assessing van der Linde's claim of 1874 "D. Polerio-Gambit".
"Polerio Gambits and Variations"
In 1874, Van der Linde suggested as well (p. 188) to rename the move order 1. e4 e5 2. f4 ef 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 Bg7 5.h4 h6 6.d4 d6 7.Nc3 e6 8.hg hg 9.Rxh8 Bxh8 10.Ne5 into "Polerio's second Gambit". This suggestion is based on the observation that "im HandbuchHandbuch des Schachspiels
Handbuch des Schachspiels is a chess book, first published in 1843 by Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa. It was one of the most important opening references for many decades...
(1864, S.. 366, § 3)" this move order is called "das Gambit des Calabresen". This is a rather interesting observation since in the "Handbuch"
Handbuch des Schachspiels
Handbuch des Schachspiels is a chess book, first published in 1843 by Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa. It was one of the most important opening references for many decades...
in its 2nd edition as of 1852, on p. 205 it is mentioned that the move order 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 f5 can be found "at the Calabrese". That's a rather wise wording since both 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 f5 and 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5, according to Codexes of Polerio, occurred in games of "Gio. Leonardo" (games 236-238, p. 190 in van der Linde). Both Giovanni Leonardo and Gioacchino Greco
Gioacchino Greco
Gioachino Greco was an Italian chess player and writer. He recorded some of the first chess games known, 77 in total...
derived from Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
, the first from Cutro
Cutro
Cutro is a town and comune in the province of Crotone, Calabria region, Italy. It is the place of birth of Vincenzo Iaquinta, World Cup-winning footballer who plays for Serie A club Juventus.-History:...
, the second from Celico
Celico
Celico is a town and comune in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy....
(?).