Giovanni Leonardo di Bona or Giovanni Leonardo da Cutri (both given names can be seen also in the reversed order Leonardo Giovanni), known as Il Puttino ( it, Small Child) (1542–1597), was an early

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

master. Giovanni Leonardo was born in

Cutro Cutro ( Calabrian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Crotone, Calabria region, Italy. It's called "City of chess". It is the place of birth of Vincenzo Iaquinta, World Cup-winning footballer who played for Serie A club Juventus. Histo ...

, Calabria. He studied law in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. In 1560, he lost a match to Ruy López in Rome. In 1566–1572, he travelled and played chess in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

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. He had played many times against Paolo Boi in Italy, and they were regarded as being equal in strength. Giovanni Leonardo di Bona won the first known international master tournament in the history of chess in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

in 1575, therefore becoming the strongest chess master of the time. After their success at the Court of Spain, Leonardo and Paolo Boi, both travelled, albeit separately, to Lisbon, where they tested their chess skill against ''Il Moro'', the eminent chess champion of King Don Sebastian, of Portugal. Again, they both succeeded—first Leonardo, soon followed by Paolo Boi—in defeating Il Moro. After he won with Ruy Lopez in Spain, he asked for his town

to be exonerated of taxes and called Cutro "City of Chess", where every year this event is remembered in a traditional day in August. And again the King was generous with his rewards. After this triumph, Giovanni Leonardo di Bona, having been called the wandering knight (''Il Cavaliere errante'') by King Don Sebastian, left Portugal to return to Italy and settle in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

where he became the chess master for the Prince of

Bisignano Bisignano ( Calabrian: ) is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Cosenza, part of the Calabria region of southern Italy. It is situated on hills in the Crati valley, between the Pollino and Sila National Parks. The town has historically been ...

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Biography
1542 births 1597 deaths People from the Province of Crotone Italian chess players 16th century in chess {{italy-chess-bio-stub