Jean-Louis Preti

Philippe Ambroise Durand playing chess with Jean-Louis Preti.

Jean-Louis Preti (1798 – 27 January 1881)^[1] was a musician and chess writer, specializing in the chess endgame.^[2][3]

Born in Mantua, Italy, Preti studied music and became a flutist. Involvement in a political conspiracy against Austria caused him to flee Italy in 1826.^[2][3] Settling in Bordeaux, France, he was appointed first flutist at the city theater and developed an interest in chess.^[3] After eighteen years in Bordeaux^[2] he moved to Paris and ran an export business.^[3]

In Paris in 1867 Preti founded the famous monthly chess magazine, La Stratégie, which he edited until 1875.^[2][4] His son Numa Preti (27 February 1841, Bordeaux – 28 January 1908, Argentuil)^[1] succeeded him as editor from 1875 to 1907. Henri Delaire (16 August 1860, Paris – 27 October 1941)^[5] edited the magazine from 1907 until it stopped publishing in 1940.^[2][3]

Preti's primary work in the endgame was Traité complet, théorique et pratique sur les fins de parties au jeu des échecs (Paris 1858).^[3] He also coauthored three books with Philippe Ambroise Durand, including the two-volume Stratégie raisonné des fins de partie (1871–1873). These were the first books devoted to the practical endgame, and included concepts such as conjugate squares and the opposition.^[2]: 117

Publications

• Preti, Jean (1856), Recueil d'études progressives sur les fins de parties au jeu des échecs (In French), Paris
• Preti, Jean (1858), Traité complet, théorique et pratique sur les fins de parties au jeu des échecs (in French), Paris
• Preti, Jean (1859), Choix des parties les plus remarquables jouées par Paul Morphy en Amérique, en Angleterre et en France (in French), Paris
• Durand, L'Abbé; Metton, Louis; Preti, Jean (1862–1863), Stratégie raisonnée des ouvertures de jeu d'échecs (in French), vol. Premier Fascicule et Livre II, Paris
• Preti, Jean (1868), ABC des échecs (in French), Paris
• Durand, L'Abbé; Preti, Jean (1871–1873), Stratégie raisonnée des fins de partie du jeu d'échecs (in French), vol. Premier Fascicule et Livre II, Paris

See also

• Chess endgame literature

References

1. Gaige, Jeremy (1987), Chess Personalia, A Biobibliography, McFarland, p. 340, ISBN 0-7864-2353-6
2. Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1992), The Oxford Companion to Chess (2 ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 319, ISBN 0-19-280049-3
3. Golombek, Harry, ed. (1977), "Préti, Jean", Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess, Crown Publishing, p. 247, ISBN 0-517-53146-1
4. Golombek, Harry, ed. (1977), "Strategie, La", Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess, Crown Publishing, p. 310, ISBN 0-517-53146-1
5. Gaige, Jeremy (1987), Chess Personalia, A Biobibliography, McFarland, p. 88, ISBN 0-7864-2353-6

Further reading

• British Chess Magazine, 1881, p. 74
• La Stratégie, 1881, p. 33