Serafino Dubois
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Serafino Dubois (10 October 1817 – 15 January 1899) was an Italian
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 disti ...
Master and chess writer. Dubois was certainly among the strongest players in the world during the 1850s. He was known for his writings on the game, and for his promotion of chess in Italy.


Chess career

Serafino Dubois was born in Rome. His early career coincided with a time when the Italian rules of chess differed from those elsewhere in Europe, but he wasn't content with being recognized as the best player in Italy; he needed to prove himself on the European board as well. During the early to middle part of the nineteenth century, chess tournaments were few and far between, and many of the top players were limited to playing matches against each other, usually for a substantial purse, which was either staked by themselves or by their patrons. From the 1840s to the 1860s, Dubois took part in many matches against the top players of Europe, and it was rare for him to lose, even when he gave odds of pawn and move to his opponents. In 1846 he played a number of games in Rome against the strong English Master Marmaduke Wyvill, and it has been reported that Dubois won 55–26 when no odds were given by either side, but lost 39–30 when he gave odds of pawn and move to his opponent. In 1855 he visited Paris and the famous
Café de la Régence The Café de la Régence in Paris was an important European centre of chess in the 18th and 19th centuries. All important chess masters of the time played there. The Café's masters included, but are not limited to: * Paul Morphy * François- ...
, a mecca for the leading French players and enthusiasts from abroad. He played no fewer than four matches, beating the strong French player
Jules Arnous de Rivière Jules Arnous de Rivière (4 May 1830, Nantes – 11 September 1905, Paris) was the strongest French chess player from the late 1850s through the late 1870s. He is best known today for playing many games with Paul Morphy when the American champio ...
by 25–7, Seguin by 5–1, Wincenty Budzyński by 13½–6½, but he did lose 4–1 to Lecrivain. In 1856 he beat Kowsky 11½–1½, and played another match against de Rivière, but unfortunately the latter score has been lost. Two years later he played the celebrated Russian novelist
Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (; rus, links=no, Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́невIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; 9 November 1818 – 3 September 1883 (Old Style dat ...
in the Cafe Antonini in Rome, and won a game in 25 moves giving odds of a pawn and ceding the first move. This game was later published in ''La Nuova Rivista degli Scacchi'' in 1880. His best tournament performance came in the London tournament of 1862, where he placed 5th with 9 points, ahead of
Wilhelm Steinitz William Steinitz (born Wilhelm Steinitz; May 14, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was an Austrian and, later, American chess player. From 1886 to 1894, he was the first official World Chess Champion. He was also a highly influential writer and che ...
, who later went on to become the first official world chess champion. Dubois won £10 in prize-money, now roughly equivalent to £700.


Loses match against Steinitz, wins three other matches

After the tournament ended, Steinitz challenged Dubois to a match. The future World Champion beat his Italian opponent by 5½–3½. Just over 100 years after this match, world champion-to-be
Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11 ...
, who was very interested in 19th century chess, annotated in depth all nine games from it in his monthly column for ''Chess Life'' magazine in 1964 (April, July, August, November and December issues).''The World Chess Championship'', by
I. A. Horowitz Israel Albert Horowitz (often known as I. A. Horowitz or Al Horowitz) (November 15, 1907 – January 18, 1973) was an American International Master of chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling ...
, Macmillan, New York, 1973, p. 18, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 72-80175
But Dubois did win several other matches that same year. He defeated Cornelius Bonetti by 11½–1½. He won two matches against
Valentine Green Valentine Green (3 October 173929 July 1813) was a British mezzotinter and print publisher. Green trained under Robert Hancock, a Worcester engraver, after which he moved to London and began working as a mezzotint engraver. He began to exhibit ...
: the first by 5–0 and the second 5½–½.


Dubois and Italian chess

Dubois moved to the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
in April 1863, and reputedly stayed for about two years. However, he couldn't get used to the cooler climate, and returned to Rome where he concentrated on his writing and his promotion of the Italian rules of the game. From the late 1850s to the early 1870s Serafino Dubois corresponded regularly with French and Russian masters about how to achieve unity in the rules of chess. In particular, he was an avid supporter of ''free castling'', which was permitted under the Italian rules of the game but not elsewhere in Europe. Under free castling the
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
and
Rook Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess *Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military * Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * USS ...
, after jumping over each other, could go to any square up to and including the other's starting point, provided neither piece attacked an enemy piece. There were other significant differences in the Italian rules, too: taking a
pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pawn, Oregon, an his ...
"
en passant ''En passant'' (, "in passing") is a method of capturing in chess that occurs when a pawn captures a horizontally adjacent enemy pawn that has just made an initial two-square advance. The capturing pawn moves to the square that the enemy paw ...
" was forbidden, and pawns could only be promoted into pieces captured during the game. There was an added twist to the latter rule – if a pawn reached the eighth
rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * H ...
before any piece of its colour had been captured, it had to wait there 'suspended' until a piece was captured, at which time the promotion was possible. Dubois discussed these issues in his writings of the time. In 1847 he became the editor of the first Italian chess column, ''L'Album'' in Rome, and by 1859 he was co-editor with Augusto Ferrante of the chess journal ''La Rivista degli Scacchi'', which was also based in his home city. Between 1868 and 1873, he published a three-volume work on the differences in the rules between the Italian and French versions, in which he tried hard to defend the practice of free castling. However, by the 1880s Italy toed the line and adopted the normal European laws of chess, although it wasn't until the end of the century that the new rules were widely accepted throughout the country.


Legacy

Dubois was Italy's best player during the 1850s and 1860s, and a very strong tactician, in keeping with the style of his times. He was very influential within the world of Italian chess and, not surprisingly, chess politics played a big part in his later life. In addition, he wrote many articles on chess openings. Dubois has several variations named in his honor: a) a line of the
Vienna Game The Vienna Game is an opening in chess that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nc3 White's second move is less common than 2.Nf3, and is also more recent. The original idea behind the Vienna Game was to play a delayed King's Gambit with f ...
; b) the Dubois Variation of the Hamppe-Muzio Gambit (C25); c) the Dubois Variation of the
Giuoco Pianissimo The Giuoco Piano (Italian: "Quiet Game"; ), also called the Italian Opening, is a chess opening beginning with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 Bc5 "White aims to develop quickly – but so does Black. White can construct a pawn ce ...
(C50); d) the Dubois-Reti Defence in the
Scotch Gambit The Scotch Game, or Scotch Opening, is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. d4 Ercole del Rio, in his 1750 treatise ''Sopra il giuoco degli Scacchi, Osservazioni pratiche d’anonimo Autore Modenese'' ("On ...
(C44). However, he was not a keen fan of the
French Defense The French Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e6 This is most commonly followed by 2.d4 d5, with Black intending ...c5 soon after, attacking White's and gaining on the . The French has a reputation for solidity ...
, and commented: "This is the most monotonous and annoying play you can imagine – rarely it gives rise to combinations of some interest".


Death

Dubois died on 15 January 1899.


Further reading

*


References


External links

*
First part of article about Serafino Dubois

Second part of article about Serafino Dubois
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dubois, Serafino 1817 births 1899 deaths Italian chess players Italian male writers Sportspeople from Rome 19th-century chess players