Ruy López de Segura
Rodrigo López de Segura was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest in Segura whose 1561 book Libro de la invención liberal y arte del juego del Axedrez was one of the first definitive books about modern chess in Europe, preceded only by Pedro Damiano's 1512 book, Luis Ramírez de Lucena's 1497 book, and the Göttingen manuscript.
He was born in Zafra near Badajoz, and he studied and lived in Salamanca. In 1560 he won a match against Leonardo di Bona, a Calabrian lawyer, in Rome. In 1574–75 he lost the first known international chess tournament, which was held, at the invitation of King Philip II of Spain, at the Royal Court of Spain in El Escorial, close to Madrid, to Leonardo di Bona and to Paolo Boi, but placing ahead of 4th place finisher Alfonso Ceron.Contributions to opening
The Ruy Lopez Opening is named after him, as is a variation in the Petroff Defence.
