Gebruiker:Chescargot/Philip Stamma
Phillip Stamma was born in Aleppo, Syria. His first name can also be found spelled Philippe, Philippo or Filipo. His Arabic name was Fathallah, son of Safar, of the Shtamma clan. His family had Syrian Orthodox origins, but also ties to the Catholic church. He was a chess player and interpreter of oriental languages. After leaving the Ottoman Empire, he spent some time in Italy, before arriving in France. He then moved to London some time between 1737 and 1739. He was appointed interpreter of oriental languages on 9 July 1739. Together with his wife Ester, he had two sons: William, who was baptized on 11 August 1747, and Lewis. He died in 1755 in London, possibly in July.(1)
Stamma published his book Essai sur le jeu des échecs in France in 1737. An improved English transsation, The Noble Game of Chess, was published in England in 1745. His book is famous for introducing the concept of "end game," and the Algebraic notation. His books were translated into several languages during the 18th and 19th centuries.(1)
He was considered to be one of the World's best Chessplayers. In 1747, Stamma lost a match against François André Philidor with +1 =1 -8 despite having the advantage of the first move in all games (and all draws counted as a win for Stamma so the official score is 2-8). Game scores of the match do not appear to exist