The Art of the Game of Chess

"This book is an event. Michael McGrath has brilliantly rendered into English the most influential chess treatise of early modern Europe."—Juan Manuel Escourido, East Carolina University

"Michael McGrath's erudite introduction, clear, engaging, and richly annotated translation of Ruy López's The Art of the Game of Chess is a major (and delightful) contribution to our understanding of Philip II's broad humanistic project in the 1560s and 1570s, of which the game of chess, not unlike the Relaciones topográficas, was one signal aspect. This book is a major contribution to the cultural history of early modern Spain and Europe as well as to the history of chess." As an added benefit for historians of early modern Spain and, at the same time, devotees of the game of chess, this translation is a wondrous present to be read with care as we play Ruy López's opening moves again and again on our boards or computers."—Teofilo F. Ruiz, University of California Los Angeles