Ruy López de Segura Ruy López de Segura Rodrigo (Ruy) López de Segura (c. 1530 – c. 1580) was a Spanish priest and later bishop 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 (the oldest surviving printed book on chess), and the Göttingen manuscript (authorship and exact date of the manuscript are unknown). He was born in Zafra near Badajoz, and he studied and lived in Salamanca. In 1560 he won
Ruy Lopez careful play White is held to gain an advantage. The best moves are 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.O-O Bc5 6.d3 c6 7.Ba4 Ne7. This defence was published in 1843 in Paul Rudolf von Bilguer's "Handbuch des Schachspiels" and explored by Henry Bird in the late 19th century. Bird played it as Black at least 25 times, scoring +9 =3 −13 (nine wins, three draws, thirteen losses). Bird's Defence was later used a few times in tournament play by Siegbert Tarrasch, Boris Spassky, and Alexander Khalifman. Although it is still sometimes seen as a surprise weapon, no strong master since Bird has adopted