Giulio Cesare Polerio

by Bill Wall

Around 1550, Giulio Cesare (Julius Caesar)

Polerio (Giulio Cesare da Lanciano) was born
in Lanciano in the Abruzzo region of Italy.
Polerio's nickname was l'Abruzzese (from
Abruzzo — a region in Southern Italy).

In 1561 Ruy Lopez (pronounced Rue-y

Lopeth) de Segura (1530-1580) wrote Libro
de la invencion liberal y arte del juego del
Axedrez. He wrote the book in response to
Damiano's book. It contains 66 games.
Bill Wall
In 1575, Polerio was traveled from Genoa,
Italy to Madrid to inform the chess player
Giovanni Leonardo di Cutri (1542-1597) that
his fiancee had died. Polerio had been a
faithful follower and servant (criato) of
Leonardo. Polerio was with Leonardo when Chess is the touchstone of
he defeated Ruy Lopez in a chess match in intellect. —Goethe
Madrid at the court of Philip II (1527-1598),
King of Spain.

After the Madrid match, Leonardo and Paolo

Boi (1528-1598) went to Portugal and
eventually back to Italy. However, Polerio
stayed in Spain for a few years.

Polerio took notes on chess and copied

several chess manuscripts, playing strategies,
and names of chess players and events.

In 1579, Polerio analyzed 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4

3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.O-O, the Polerio
Gambit, which was later called the Muzio
Gambit by Jacob Sarratt (1772-1819) in 1828
in one of his chess books. In 1874, Dr.
Antonius van der Linde (1833-1897) called
the opening Polerio's Gambit in his chess
book.
In 1580, the Spanish manuscript
"L'Elegancia" was written.

In 1583, the Italian manuscript "L'Elegantia"

was written.

In 1584, Ruy Lopez's book was translated

into Italian by Giovanni Dominico Tarsia and
printed at Venice by Cornelius Arrivabene. It
was called Il Giuoco de Gli Scacchi. In 1655,
it was translated into French and published at
Brussels.

In 1584, Polerio returned to Rome and

became the strongest chess player in Rome.
He wrote a number of chess codices. Polerio
became a member of the household (the
palace called Torricella) of Giacomo
Boncompagni (1548-1612), Duke of Sora
(1579) and the illegitimate son of Pope
Gregory XIII (1502-1585), also known as
Ugo Boncompagni. The Duke game him a
rental in Giantro with the annual value of 300
scudi (crowns).

On August 7, 1584, Polerio wrote what is

known as Codex A. A codex is a book
handmade by binding parchment leaves
together.

In 1584, Giovanni Domenico Tarsia

translated the works of Ruy Lopez from
Spanish to Italian. His book was called Il
Giuoco de gli scacchi.

Around 1585, Polerio translated the works of

Ruy Lopez from Spanish to Italian after
seeing what a bad job Tarsia did in his
translation of Ruy Lopez. This is known as
Codex B.

Around 1590, Polerio wrote what is known as

Codex C.
In the 1590s, Polerio was first to analyze the
opening 1.e4 c5 (the Sicilian Defense). It was
given its name by Greco in the 1600s.

On July 31, 1594, Polerio wrote what is

known at Codex D. It consists of a number of
games and 40 problems.

In 1604, Dr. Alessandro Salvio (1570-1640)

published the Italian book "Il Puttino" in
Naples, which mentions Polerio. Il Puttino
(the little lad) is the nickname of Giovanni
Leonardo from Cutro, Italy. Polerio was the
faithful follower of Leonardo who traveled
from Genoa to Madrid to deliver a message
that Leonardo's fiancee had died.

In 1606, a priest named Don Geronimo

(Girolamo) Cascio (1571- ) of Sicily, on his
way to Rome, beat Polerio in a game of chess
in the palace of Giacomo Boncompagni.
After defeating Polerio, Cascio was given a
position in the palace of Boncompagni at 250
scudi a year.

Around 1610, Polerio died in Rome, Italy.

Polerio's manuscripts included games by

Leonardo, Boi, Ruy Lopez, Alfonso Ceron,
Busnardo, and other Italian players. He wrote
analysis on the Polerio (Muzio) Gambit, the
Sicilian Defense, the Center Counter Defense,
Two Knights Defense, Four Knights Defense,
etc.

Around 1610, Codex E was written, but it

may not have been written by Polerio.

In 1617, Pietro Carrera (1573-1647) added

additional information to the book "Il
Puttino" and had it re-published.

In 1620 Gioachino Greco (1600-1634) wrote

manuscripts on chess traps.

In 1634, Dr. Alessandro Salvio (1570-1640)

re-published the 1604 Italian book "Il
Puttino" in Naples.

In 1723, a reprint of Alessandro Salvio's

(1570-1640) book was published in Naples.

In September 1813, Jacob Henry Sarratt

(1772-1819) translated Alessandro Salvio's
1723 reprint and published "The Works of
Damiano, Ruy Lopez, and Salvio on the
Game of Chess." On page 209, Sarratt wrote
that Salvio got the opening 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4
3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.O-O from Signor Muzio
(the person was Mutio, not Muzio), who
commonly defeated Don Geronimo Gascio
with this opening. Sarratt then called it
Muzio's Gambit, when it really was Polerio's
Gambit. Also, Salvio never stated that he got
this opening from Muzio. Sarrat provided a
poor translation. Salvio wrote that Signor
Mutio (not Muzio) d'Alessandro, a third class
player in the Naples Academy, did see that
Girolamo (Geronimo) Cascio, a priest from
Piazza, Sicily, did play the move order, with
the additional note that it was with free
castling, also called "Italian method" of
castling, where the White king ends up on the
h1 square instead of the g1 square.

In 1821, A New Treatise of the Game of

Chess, volume 1 and volume 2, was
published by Sarratt's widow. It contained a
98 page analysis of the Muzio Gambit. It also
stated that in Italy, you may have two
Queens, but are restricted to Queens and not
allowed to replace a pawn that reached the
8th rank with any other piece. This was the
first book that included a comprehensive
beginner's section.

In 1828, Sarratt's widow published volume 2

of "A New Treatise of the Game of Chess"
and coined the term Muzio Gambit for 1.e4
e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.O-O.

In 1843, George Walker translated "Il

Puttino", which appeared in an article" The
Light and Luster of Chess," by George
Walker, in The Chess Player's Chronicle, Vol.
4, 1843, p. 215.

In 1874, Dr. Antonius van der Linde (1833-

1897) published the first systematic
investigation of Polero's seven known
codices. It was published in a chapter called
"Die Polerio-Manuscripte," in his book, "Das
Schachspiel des XVI Jahrhunderts, Nach
Unedirten Quellen Bearbeitet." (Chess in the
16th Century, With Unedited Sources).

Polerio's Codex A, titled "Questo libro e di

Giulio Polerio Lancianese al suo commando e
del' amici a presso del magnanimo Sig(no)r
mio oss (equientissimo)" is Manuscrits
Italients No. 955 (2669 supplement) in the
Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. It is a rough
81-leaf note-book that consists of a number of
openings and 67 problems. 53 of the
problems were derived from Lucena. The
manuscript was dedicated to Prince Giacomo
Buoncompagni (1548-1612). The manuscript
was written at various odd times and was
incomplete. It also contains a translation of
the first seven chapters of the second book of
Ruy Lopez. It was dated August 7, 1584.

In 1850, Codex B was discovered by Antonio

Fantacci in the Magliabechiana Library of
Florence. The library is named after Antonio
Migliabechi (1633-1714), a Florentine book
collector. It is now in the Biblioteca
Nazionale in Florence. It consists of a
translation of Ruy Lopez with 32 original
games. The discovery was noted in the
Illustrated London News and in The Chess
Player's Chronicle, vol. 15, 1854, p. 220. The
manuscript is known as the Magliabechiana
Classe XIX, codex 65, or "L'Elegantia,
sottilita, verita della virtuossisima professione
dei scacchi." It was perhaps written in 1583.

Codex C, "Trattato de' Scacchi di Giulio

Cesare Polerio," was in the library of Prince
Baldassarre Boncompagni-Ludovisi (1821-
1894), in Rome. It is now in the Biblioteca
Apostolica Vaticana Citta del Vaticano, Italy.
The 150-leaf manuscript was dedicated to his
patron, Prince Giacomo (Jacomo)
Buoncompagni. It contains 98 openings, 12
endgames, and 38 problems with solutions. It
is dated around 1590. The codex is known as
Boncompagni no. 3.

Murray also mentions Toulouse Manuscript

766 that contains 49 openings and 40
problems, written in 1594. It is in Polerio's
handwriting.

Codex D, "Ordini di giuochi degli scacchi

indiversi modi," is the Manuscrits Italients
No. 948 (8109-5) in the Bibliotheque
Nationale in Paris. It is dated July 31, 1594. It
is dedicated to an unnamed patron. It consists
of a 49 openings and 40 problems. This
manuscript is an improved and corrected copy
of the Toulouse manuscript. It is in Polerio's
handwriting.

Codex E, "Giuochi di diversi valentissimi

giuocatori," was an Italian manuscript that
was in Florence until 1827, then it belonged
to Gabriel-Eloy Doazan of Paris, but has
disappeared since his death in 1865. It
consists of about 130 openings and 6
endgames. As this manuscript speaks of
Polerio as a great chess player, this may not
be Polerio's own work. It is dated around
1630. The Doazan manuscript was described
in the Palamede, vol 4, 1843. The manuscript
was seen by von der Lasa in 1855. He
extracted the games and wrote a pamphlet on
it called Recueil de Parties d' Echecs,
published in Brussels in 1855. (source:
British Chess Magazine, vol 28, 1908, p.
230)

Codex F may be the work of Gioachino

Greco written in 1623.

Codex G consists of 108 problems by an

anonymous Italian.

By 1874, Polerio's Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4

3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.O-O was known as the
Muzio Gambit, and no longer the Polerio
Gambit.

In 1894, another Polerio Codex was

discovered by Joseph Abraham Leon (1861-
1934) of London. Leon published "Forty-Six
Games of Chess: by Giulio Cesare Polerio."
This was a reprint of an article that appeared
in the British Chess Magazine, August 1894,
pp. 317-336. Polerio's manuscript was bound
up with Giovanni Domenico Tarsia's Italian
translation of Ruy Lopez (Venice, 1584), and
Barozzi's Rythmomachia (Venice, 1572). The
book originally belonged to Mr. Edward
Cheney, a collector of miscellaneous Italian
literature. The manuscript was unfinished. It
contains no dedication, title, or problems.

In 1897, Baron Von de Lasa (1818-1899)

examined the "L'Elegantia" codex and
rejected the authorship of Polerio because it
contained inconsistencies, which a player of
Polerio's ability would have avoided.

In 1959, the Italian scholar Adriano Chicco

(1907-1990) supported van der Linde's
opinion that the "L'Elegantia" or XIX, codex
65 manuscript was written by Polerio.
In 1990, Chicco changed his opinion and did
not think that Polerio wrote "L'Elegantia." All
the other Polerio manuscripts were signed
except this one. Also, "L'Elegantia" was
written in sufficiently correct Italian, but all
the other Polerio manuscripts were written in
poor Italian.

In 1993, scholar Giovanni Baffioni (1920-

1998) did a comparison study of Polerio's
texts, handwriting, and word structure and
concluded that Polerio's style was simple,
synthetic, practical with a tendency to the
essential, while the unknown author of the
Italian "L'Elegantia" used diluted and
extended language. He concluded that Polerio
did not write "L'Elegantia." (source"
Gianfelice Ferlito, The Chess Collector, Vol.
XVI, 2007, pp. 14-18)

In 2005, the Spanish historian Jose Antonio

Garzon Roger suggested that the priest and
Spanish professional chess player Lorenzo
Busnardo was the author of the Spanish
"L'Elegancia."

In 2005, Alessandro Sanvito (1938- )

published further analysis of Polerio's codices
in his book, "I codici scacchistici di Giulio
Cesare Polerio e Gioacchino Greco."

References

Baffioni, Giulio Cesare Polerio Lancianese

Maestro de Scacchi (XVI-XVII), 1993
Baffioni, Giulio Cesare Poleria —
"L'Apruzzese" — Maestro de Scacchi
Europeo (XVI — XVII), 1995
Leon, Forty-Six Games of Chess: by Giulio
Cesare Polerio, 1894
Monte, The Classical Era of Modern Chess,
2014
Murray, A History of Chess, 1913
Polerio's chess games,
www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=
78727
Sanvito, I codici scacchistici di Giulio Cesare
Polerio e Giocchino Greco, 2008
Van der Linde, Das Schachspiel des XVI
Juhrhunderts Nach unedirten Quellen
bearbetetr, 1874
Walker, "The Light and Lustre of Chess," The
Chess Player's Chronicle, 1843

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