Il Giuoco De Gli Scacchi Di Rui Lopez, Spagnuolo; Nuovamente tradotto in lingua Italiana de M. Gio Domenico Tarsia.

TARSIA, M. Gio Domenico.

Item Number: 95823

Venice: Presso Cornelio Arriuabene, 1584.

Rare first edition of one of the earliest books published on the game of chess. Octavo, bound in contemporary vellum, gilt titles to the spine, burgundy spine label, with 7 woodcut illustrations throughout the text. This translation by M. Gio Domenico Tarsia became the source for all later translations of the Ruy Lopez chess opening. In very good condition, with a small part of the label lacking.

The Ruy Lopez, also called the Spanish Opening, is a chess opening named after 16th-century Spanish bishop Ruy López de Segura. It is one of the most popular openings, with such a vast number of variations that in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings (ECO) all codes from C60 to C99 are assigned to them. Tarsia's translation of of the Ruy Lopez became the source for all later editions of Lopez of which there were several 17th century French and German editions (Murray, A History of Chess, 182).