Ercole del Rio

Domenico Ercole del Rio (* 1723 or 1726 Guiglia, † May 23, 1802 in Modena ) was an Italian chess player.

Life and work

Rio was a town councilor in Modena and is considered the founder of the Italian school of chess, which emphasized the importance of the rapid development of the characters in the opening. It was recommended is now called the Italian game. Rio published in 1750 under the pseudonym Anonimo Modenese his only book Sopra il giuoco degli scacchi Osservazioni Pratiche ( German: Practical considerations on the game of chess ). It formed the basis of the published thirteen years later, more detailed work by Giambattista Lolli.

In the last years of his life, Del Rio finished still a work under the title La guerra degli scacchi, in which he summarized his analysis of the King and Queen's Gambit and a series of playoffs. This manuscript was lost for many years. More than twenty years but it was rediscovered in the collection of John White in the Library of Cleveland, translated into English ( The war of chessmen ) and published in 1984 along with the original text.

Endgame study

In his book, there are also some endgame studies:

The chart position seems lost for White, because he can not prevent Black is a rook chess in the next train, and thus pave the way for the transformation of peasants a2. However, White can play to stalemate

1 K g4 - g5 Ta1 - g1 2 KG5 - h6 a2 - A1d 3 TA7 - a8 ! Da1xa8 patt.