Pedro Damiano was a Portuguese chess player who lived from 1480-1544. He wrote the first chess book published in Rome, Italy (1512), entitled Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de li partiti. It was in this book he suggested chess was invented by Xerxes which is why it was known in Spanish as Axedrez. The book analyzes a few openings, suggesting that after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 the reply 2...Nc6 is best and 2...d6 (now called the Philidor Defence) is not as good. Damiano rightly condemned 2...f6 as the worst defence, but ironically and unfairly this opening has been given his name (Damiano Defence). A chess table is a table with a chessboard painted or engraved on it. ... The Roman Colosseum Rome (Italian and Latin Roma) is the capital city of Italy, and of its Lazio region. ... Xerxes (the Greek form of the Persian Khshayārsha) is the name of two Persian kings of the Achaemenid dynasty: Xerxes I, reigned 485–465 BC. Xerxes II, reigned 424 BC. Xerxes may also refer to: Xerxes, an Armenian king, killed about 212 BC by Antiochus III the Great. ... The Philidor Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves (in algebraic notation): 1. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Damiano defense The Damiano Defense is an inferior chess opening characterized by the opening moves 1. ...

References

• Hooper, David and Kenneth Whyld (1996). The Oxford Companion To Chess, Oxford University. ISBN 0-19-280049-3