Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani (9 November 1719 – 15 July 1796) was an 18th-century Italian law professor, priest, chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 player, composer

Chess problem

A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by somebody using chess pieces on a chess board, that presents the solver with a particular task to be achieved. For instance, a position might be given with the instruction that White is to move first, and checkmate Black in two...

 and theoretician

Chess theory

The game of chess is commonly divided into three phases: the opening, middlegame, and endgame. As to each of these phases, especially the opening and endgame, there is a large body of theory as how the game should be played...

. He is best known today for his chess writing.

Life

Ponziani was born in Modena in 1719. In 1742 he graduated in law at the University of San Carlo and was admitted to the College of Advocates in 1745. He was Professor of Civil Law at the University of Modena

University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia , located in Modena and Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, is one of the oldest universities in Italy, founded in 1175, with a population of more than 20,000 students....

 from 1742 to 1772 when he retired taking a pension and the title of honorary professor. In 1764 Ponziani took orders

Holy Orders

The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....

 as a priest

Priesthood (Catholic Church)

The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....

 and in 1766 he became a canon

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 in the Modena Cathedral. He became Vicar General

Vicar general

A vicar general is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ordinary executive power over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese or other particular...

 in 1784, received the title of Protonotary Apostolic

Protonotary apostolic

In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside of Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pope has conferred this title and its special privileges.-History:In later antiquity there were in...

, and was made Vicar Capitular

Vicar capitular

A diocesan administrator is a provisional ordinary of a Roman Catholic particular church. The college of consultors elects an administrator within eight days after the see is known to be vacant. The college must elect as administrator a priest or bishop at least 35 years old...

 in 1785. Ponziani died in Modena and is buried in the Modena Cathedral.

Chess writing

Ponziani was friends with fellow Modenese chess players and writers Ercole del Rio

Ercole del Rio

Domenico Ercole del Rio was an Italian lawyer and author. He published an 110-page chess book in 1750 which was the basis of a work by Giambattista Lolli thirteen years later. He composed many chess problems. He was one of the Modenese Masters.-References:...

 and Giambattista Lolli

Giambattista Lolli

Giambattista Lolli was an Italian chess player. Lolli was one of the most important chess theoreticians of his time. He is most famous for his book Osservazioni teorico-pratiche sopra il giuoco degli scacchi , published 1763 in Bologna...

, and collectively the trio are known as the Modenese Masters

Modenese Masters

The Modenese Masters are three 18th-century chess masters and writers:* Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani * Ercole del Rio and* Giambattista Lolli ....

.
In 1769 Ponziani published the first edition of Il giuoco incomparabile degli scacchi (The Incomparable Game of Chess). As Ponziani did not include his name in the work (Opera d'Autore Modenese) it was identified to the Anonymous Modenese.
The second edition in 1782 was much improved and laid out the principles of the Italian school of chess

School of chess

A school of chess means a chess player or group of players that share common ideas about the strategy of the game. There have been several schools in the history of modern chess. Today there is less dependence on schools – players draw on many sources and play according to their personal...

 as exemplified by 17th century Italian masters such as Gioachino Greco.
Although Ponziani identified himself in the second edition, the 1820 translation by English naval officer J. B. Smith using the pen name J. S. Bingham, The Incomparable Game of Chess, attributed the work to del Rio.

Ponziani's work is the best practical guide produced by the Modenese Masters.
Like writings by del Rio and Lolli, Ponziani deals only with the opening

Chess opening

A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...

 and endgame, with no discussion of the middlegame. In the opening, the primary objective is to obtain the maximum amount of mobility for the pieces, aiming in particular for vulnerable points such as the f2 or f7 square. No importance is attached to formation or maintenance of a pawn center—pawns are used to drive back enemy pieces.

In the opening, Ponziani is best known as the eponym of the Ponziani Opening

Ponziani Opening

The Ponziani Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The opening is now considered inferior to 3.Bb5, the Ruy Lopez, and 3.Bc4, the Italian Game, and is accordingly rarely seen today at any level of play. Black's main responses are 3...Nf6, leading to quiet play, and 3...d5, leading...

 (1.e4 e5 2.c3), although he did not originate it as it was published by Lucena around 1497. His name is properly attached to the Ponziani Countergambit (1.e4 e5 2.c3 f5) in the Ponziani Opening as he published the first analysis in 1782.

Endgame studies

Ponziani's 1769 manuscript contained the endgame study

Endgame study

An endgame study, or just study, is a composed chess position—that is, one that has been made up rather than one from an actual game—presented as a sort of puzzle, in which the aim of the solver is to find a way for one side to win or draw, as stipulated, against any moves the other side...

 above. White wins as follows:

1. Kf4 Kg7

2. Kf5 Kh8

3. Kg5

Or Ke6 or Ke5, but not Kf6?? stalemate

Stalemate

Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal moves. A stalemate ends the game in a draw. Stalemate is covered in the rules of chess....

.

3...Kg7

4. h8=Q+! Kxh8

5. Kf6 Kg8

6. g7 Kh7

7. Kf7 and wins.

Ponziani (1782) also gave an example of an endgame blockade or fortress

Fortress (chess)

In chess, the fortress is an endgame drawing technique in which the side behind in material sets up a zone of protection around their king that cannot be penetrated by the opponent. This only works when the opponent does not have a passed pawn or cannot create one, unless that pawn can be stopped...

, in which the inferior side is able to hold a draw

Draw (chess)

In chess, a draw is when a game ends in a tie. It is one of the possible outcomes of a game, along with a win for White and a win for Black . Usually, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser.For the most part,...

 despite having only two minor pieces for the queen by hemming in the opposing king. (See Pawnless chess endgames, Queen vs. two minor pieces.)