Domenico Ercole del Rio

Domenico Ercole del Rio

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

life and work

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

In the last years of his life, Del Rio completed another work under the title La guerra degli scacchi , in which he summarized his analyzes of the King's and Queen's Gambit and a series of endgames . This manuscript was thought to be lost for a long time. However, more than twenty years ago it was rediscovered in the John White collection in the Cleveland Library , translated into English ( The war of chessmen ), and published in 1984 along with the original text.

Endgame study

Ercole del Rio
1750

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

White to move achieves a draw

There are also some endgame studies in his book :

The position in the diagram seems lost for White, because he cannot prevent Black from giving a rook check on the next move and thus clearing the way for the conversion of the pawn a2. However, White can play on stalemate :

1. Kg4 – g5 Ra1 – g1 +
2. Kg5 – h6 a2 – a1D
3. Ra7 – a8 +! Da1xa8 patt.

Web links

• John Cochrane: A Treatise on the Game of Chess (London 1822) contains (from p. 125) an English translation of the “Anonymous Modenese” (after Lolli) with commentary