Position after:


(1) Lopez,R - Leonardo,G [C40]
Rome, 1560

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nxe5 fxe5 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8 Nf6 7.d4 Kf7 8.Bc4+ d5 9.Bxd5+ Nxd5 1-0

 1. Ruy Lopez Spain Priest, mid 16th century. So good, they named the opening after him. World’s best for a decade, Made a fortune from chess, and from his best selling text book










Position after:


(2) Mecking,H - Rocha,A [C69]
Mar del Plata zt Mar del Plata, 1969

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 f6 6.d4 Bg4 7.c3 Bd6 8.Be3 Qe7 9.Nbd2 Nh6 10.h3 Bd7 11.Qb3 b6 12.dxe5 fxe5 13.Nc4 Nf7 14.Rfd1 Bc5 15.Bxc5 Qxc5 16.Rxd7 Kxd7 17.Nxb6+ Qxb6 18.Qxf7+ Kc8 19.Nxe5 Qxb2 20.Qd7+ Kb8 21.Qd1 Qxc3 22.Rb1+ Ka7 23.Qd4+ Qxd4 24.Nxc6# 1-0

 2. Henrique Mecking Brazil GM Trained for priesthood. World top ten in the 70’s. Winner of two Inter-Zonal tournaments










Position after:


(3) Spassky,B - Lombardy,W [B94]
Leningrad tt Leningrad (13), 1960

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Bc4 Qa5 8.Qd2 e6 9.0-0 Be7 10.a3 h6 11.Be3 Ne5 12.Ba2 Qc7 13.Qe2 b5 14.f4 Neg4 15.h3 Nxe3 16.Qxe3 0-0 17.Rae1 e5 18.Nf5 Bxf5 19.exf5 d5 20.Qxe5 Bd6 21.Qe2 Bxa3 22.Nd1 Rae8 23.Qf3 Bc5+ 24.Kh1 Rxe1 25.Rxe1 Qa5 26.Nc3 Bb4 27.Nxd5 Qxa2 28.Nxf6+ gxf6 29.Qc6 Qc4 0-1

 3.William Lombardy USA GM World junior champ (100% score). Played in seven Olympiads. Fischer’s second in 1972










Position after:


(4) MacDonnell,G - Bird,H [C37]
London it London, 1872

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0-0 gxf3 6.Qxf3 Qe7 7.d4 Nc6 8.Bxf4 Nxd4 9.Qd3 Bg7 10.Bxc7 Nh6 11.e5 Qc5 12.Bd6 Qb6 13.Kh1 Nhf5 14.Nc3 Qxb2 15.Bxf7+ Kd8 16.Qxd4 Nxd4 17.Nd5 1-0

 4. Rev George MacDonnell Ireland Finished ahead of Blackburne at Dundee 1867. One of Ireland’s strongest ever players. One of his games was dubbed the Koh-hi-Noor of chess










Position after:


(5) Owen,J - Burn,A [D02]
London London, 1887

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Bf5 3.e3 e6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.a3 c5 6.Bb5+ Nbd7 7.Ne5 Bd6 8.g4 Bxe5 9.gxf5 Bd6 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.b4 Bd6 12.Bb2 Rc8 13.Qd4 0-0 14.Bxd7 Qxd7 15.Nxd5 Ne8 16.Nf6+ gxf6 17.Rg1+ Kh8 18.Qxf6+ Nxf6 19.Bxf6# 1-0

 5. Rev John Owen UK Beat the great Anderssen at London 1862. Lost a match to Morphy. The man behind Owen’s defence (1..b6)










Position after:


(6) Guila - Pecci [C54]
Perouse, 1875

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.Qe2+ Be6 9.fxg7 Rg8 10.cxd4 Nxd4 11.Nxd4 Bxd4 12.Qh5 Qf6 13.0-0 Rxg7 14.Qb5+ c6 15.Qxb7 Rxg2+ 16.Kxg2 Qg6+ 17.Kh1 Bd5+ 18.f3 Bxf3+ 19.Rxf3 Qg1# 0-1

 6. Pope Leo XIII Italy 1810 to 1903. The 258th pontiff, and, for a pope, one hell of a player. Also a poet. If you like Latin verse, his poems are a laugh a minute. The Archbishop of Canterbury was well choked in 1896 when Leo pronounced all Anglican religious orders invalid.