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Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani
Modena 09.11.1719 - Modena 15.07.1796
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Fuentes Históricas
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"The Chess World: a magazine devoted to the cultivation of the game of chess" (Vol.II)
London 1867
DOMENICO LORENZO PONZIANI
THERE seem to have been two especially brilliant eras in the history of Italian Chess. The first one, occuring at the close of the sixteenth and commencement of the following century, was distinguished by the establishment of the celebrated Neapolitan Club, by the remarkable contests between the chess men of the Italian and Iberian peninsulas, by the appearance of such players as Leonardo da Cutri and Paolo Boi, and by the labors of such writers as Alessandro Salvio and Pietro Carrera. The second golden age comprises the latter half of the eighteenth century. Its centre of glory was the city of Modena and its chief ornaments were Ercole del Rio, known as the anonymous Modenese, Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani, sometimes styled the Autore Modenese, and the friend and fellow citizen of both, Giovanni Battista Lolli. The remote date of the earlier period, the wide destruction of its records by subsequent wars and the lapse of time, and the general decline of letters throughout Southern Europe afford a palliating excuse for the dark obscurity in which the personal history of its prominent actors has been suffered to remain. But how can we pardon the sad neglect which has permitted a cloud of oblivion to conceal the stories of those great analysts who lived, laboured and died almost within the memory of men still in existence? Scarcely an incident in the lives of that famous triumvirate of Modena, whose assiduous investigations so largely increased the theoretical lore of our game, has been hitherto made known to the chess public. We propose therefore, to present our readers with a biographical sketch of one of the stars of this lustrous constellation.
DOMENICO LORENZO PONZIANI
A Modenese Patrician, an Apostolical Prothonotary, a Vicar General in the Catholic Church, and an Emeritus Professor in the University of his native town, was born in the ducal city of Modena on the Ninth day of November in the year 1719. His father was Doctor Ponziano Ponziani, and his mother's maiden name was Apollonia Righi; both his parents were Modenese by birth. Domenico was placed at an early age in the school of the Jesuits at Modena where he pursued his studies in the department of arts and philosophy. Contemporary witnesses prove that he displayed, even in his boyish days, the same quiet affection for books and the same self-denying generosity towards his fellows which marked so prominently the years of his manhood. After thorough preparation he entered the University of San Carlo, then the chief educational institution in the place of his birth, where he diligently devoted his time to the subject of jurisprudence, and finally graduated on the Twenty-fourth of January 1742. Although he had not yet completed his twenty-fourth year, young Ponziani had exhibited such proofs of wisdom beyond his age, and had acquired so complete a mastery of his profession, that he was raised on the Twelfth of July, in the year of his graduation, to the post of public Lector of the law, with the same salary and prerogatives enjoyed by his predecessor and brother, Ignazio Ponziani, who just at this time resigned the chair. On the Fourth of December 1745 the new Lector was admitted to the College of Advocates.
While still investigating, with fervor, the knotty science of jurisprudence, Ponziani's grasping mind and religious disposition led him to occupy a portion of his time in the yet more abstruse and difficult field of theological research. This taste for ecclesiastical learning grew stronger as he waxed in years, and became at length so confirmed that he took orders as a Priest on the First of May 1764, at the age of fourty-four years and six months.(*) It was not long before he received a testimonal of the esteem entertained for his lofty character and many virtues by the Pontifical court. His Holiness, Clement the Thirteenth, conferred upon him a canonicate in the Cathedral of Modena which he accepted on the Twelfth of May, 1766. From this date his attention appears to have been more and more turned to the affairs of the church. And when the University of Modena was enlarged and re-established by Francesco the Third in the year I772, Professor Ponziani sought, but obtained with difficulty, the permission of the Duke to retire from the chair of Civil Law, a dignity which he had supported up to that period no less to his own renown than to the profit of his auditors. His great and long continued services in that capacity fully merited the reward of a pension. This was accordingly bestowed upon him by his sovereign, and with it the title of Honorary Professor of the University accompanied by all the privileges and emoluments belonging to an active member of the Academic house.
(*) At the very time and place of Ponziani's ordination one of his nephews assumed the habit of a monk, a circumstance commented upon by the Bishop of Modena in a homily which he preached on the occasion.
A copy of Ponziani's letter resigning his professorship is now lying before the writer of this sketch. It displays in a marked manner all the modesty of the man.
On the Third of January, 1784, he was forced to suffer an irremediable loss in the death of his brother, the Vicar General Ignazio Ponziani. Nor did the fact that the removal of this near relative opened for him new places of honor serve in any measure to lessen the keenness of his fraternal grief, as would have been the case with many men less loving and less generous. On the day following his brother's demise, Bishop Fogliani, by special and honorable letters patent, conferred the vacant office of Vicar General of the diocese upon our Professor; and on the seventeenth of the same month, by a diploma from the Holy See, he received the high title of Apostolical Prothonotary. Upon the death of Bishop Fogliani, which occured on the Twenty-first of October 1785, the canons, having immediately assembled in chapter, unanimously elected Ponziani their Capitular Vicar. In this capacity, on the Twenty-sixth of April 1786, he took formal possession of the Modenese cathedral in the name of the newly chosen Bishop, Tiburzio Cortese. This worthy prelate, desirous of expressing the high regard with which the acquaintance of Ponziani had inspired him, retained him as Vicar General, an appointment which he agreed to hold only until the festival of Saint Peter in the same year. When that time arrived so anxious was the Bishop to secure his continued services, that he gave him, as an assistant, Doctor Antonio Zerbini, who was charged to relieve his superior, as far as was possible, from the onerous duties of his Vicarship. Notwithstanding this aid, neither the entreaties of the Bishop nor the uttered desire of his sovereign, Ercole the Third, could induce Ponziani to exercise more than a year longer the functions of Vicar General. A delicate fear lest he should not be able to satisfy worthily the multitudinous demands of such a station, more especially from the natural feebleness of his constitution and the increasing debility of age, was of more weight in his honest mind than the wishes of friends or the praises of the powerful.
While he was Vicar General he acted as Spiritual Father to the venerable Monasterio delle Salesiani. As their counselor and guide he labored assiduously to promote the welfare of the members of that religious house, and managed their temporal affairs with all that zeal and disinterestedness which characterized his nature. In March 1787 the office of Ginnastia in the Cathedral of Modena became vacant; its duties were not severe, and at the earnest solicitations of the canons Ponziani consented to fill it; he, accordingly, entered upon the performances of his new labors, confirmed by Pontifical letters, on the Seventeenth of the same month. This action of the Canons was a well merited expression of gratitude for the services which he had so often rendered to the diocesan chapter.
As a jurist, Ponziani enjoyed a large fame no less for the lofty integrity of his character than for his profound knowledge of the law. Honesty he believed to be entirely compatible with the profession of an advocate, and he looked upon the bar only as an establishment designed to assist in punishing vice and rewarding virtue. A cool head and a warm heart seemed to him equally necessary requirements for the legal practitioner. As an ecclesiastic, he loved the church of his faith, and unceasingly endeavoured, by his own example, to maintain the purity of her principles and the correctness of her teaching. His talents were not confined to the peculiar sphere of his public labors; for he cultivated with success, the Greek, Latin, German, French and Spanish languages. So thoroughly was he versed in the knowledge of these tongues, that he wrote out admirable methods for facilitating their acquirement. But the modesty, which governed all the transactions of his life, would not permit him to publish these linguistic essays. He was an enthusiastic lover of the gentler phases of literature, and possessed a more than ordinary taste for Latin and Italian poetry. The wide range of his learning and his discriminating good sense, caused him to be frequently consulted, not only in questions of legal and theological science, but also on many disputed points of general erudition and polite letters. And yet in no measure did the riches of his mind exceed the wealth of his heart. He continually showed the warmest affection for his family, and while he lived, did not cease to benefit his kinsmen by personal sacrifices. He gave up to his nephews and grand nephews his paternal heritage; and he bestowed upon the needy poor all the income of his ecclesiastical benefices and posts of profit beyond the frugal sum which sufficed for his own maintenance.
But that peculiar trait in the character of this gentle ecclesiastic and sage jurist which most endears his memory to us, was his fondness for chess. No man ever loved it at once so wisely and so well. Its practice was to him a relaxation from the graver cares entailed upon him by his numerous offices a source of relief to an intellect, which, overtasked as it was, could not endure to be idle. His admiration for the game was not limited to its mere enjoyment; he believed in its rationality, and with a mind that studied, even while at sport, he endeavoured to enlarge its analysis and advance its theory. As early as 1749, he had committed to paper many notes of his chess experience, and had needfully transcribed a number of new moves and improved methods of attack and defence. But when he became a priest and a canon he confined his exercise of this genial and fascinating amusement chiefly to the hours of his canonical vacations. During these periods of leisure he was accustomed to repair to a pleasant seat which he possessed in the suburban village of Crocetta, on the eastern side of the city, and for a brief space to resign himself to the uninterrupted influence of those charms, whose enchanting power we have all of us so often felt. There, away from the bustle of business and the noisy excitement of the town, in the delightful companionship of his intimate friend and brother in chess, the councellor Ercole del Rio, he played a multitude of games, which, if they had been recorded, would have formed, we have every reason to believe, one of the most brilliant episodes in the story of practical chess. In the same quiet retreat, he, at length, completed those studies and analyses, whose results he afterwards gave to the public in his well known Giuoco incomparabile. Beyond these infrequent intervals of rest, he devoted himself to the discharge of his ecclesiastical and other duties with such a conscientious zeal that only the oft-repeated entreaties of del Rio could induce him to indulge in an occasional party. It was the ardent persuasions of the same great master which finally overcame the excessive modesty of the Vicar General and led him to publish his admirable and careful observations on the game. (*)
(*) That Ponziani's memory is still kept green among the chess-playing portion of his fellow townsmen is sufficiently attested by the following extract. We take it from an unpublished discourse delivered a few years since, by Antonio Gandini, Director of Music and Leader of the Ducal Choir, before the Chess-Club, which, at that date regularly held its sittings in the Palace of the Alarquis Raimondo Montecuccoli Laderchi. " In the year 1769 was published, at the office of the Soliani heirs, the first edition of the work of this distinguished man. He gave it to the world, induced by I know not what motive, under the name of the Autore Modenese, a term which has been the cause of many errors, and has led a number of writers to ascribe the authorship to Ercole del Rio. The publication was immediately recognised as an excellent and classic treatise, both for the full instruction it contained and for the clearness and connection of the method by which that instruction was conveyed. Its rapid sale and the various editions since issued demonstrate its high character and the great favor with which it has been regarded by the chess public."
Ponziani closed his days, full of the honours of life and supported by the comforts of religion, on the evening of the Fifteenth July, 1796, and was buried in the Cathedral of Modena with all the solemn ceremonies due to the dignified position he had so long held in the Church.
Nineteen years after the appearance of del Rio's work on chess and six years later than the publication of Lolli's folio, Ponziani, the third great Modenese illustrator of the game, gave to the world the first edition of his Giuoco incomparabile degli Scacchi. Succeeding labourers in the same field unite in praising its originality and completeness. The German Handbuch acknowledges its indebtedness to Ponziani, and lauds the accuracy of his endgames. A recent authority (*) says that the Autore Modenese "may justly be placed among the highest in the first class of writers on chess, and I should suppose was equally eminent as a practical player," and adds that ''Ponziani's work is written on an excellent plan; he never suffers the player of the Black pieces, to whom he addresses hiwself, to make any bad moves, hut shows him how to take advantage of those committed by his adversary; his system of noting down the moves is very convenient, and has since been adopted by others." The same critic observes that "it is the abundance of new moves which constitutes the great excellence of Ponziani's treatise" and finally concludes his review of the great Italian by saying: "Such is Ponziani's work on chess, certainly one of the most profound and elegant ever written." Our necessarily brief summary of the contents of Ponziani's book is based on an examination of the second edition, revised by the author himself and issued in 1782, or, what is the same thing, of the exact reprint of this second edition executed at Rome in 1829.
(*) Letters on Chess by C. F. VOGT. (London, 1848.) - There are many circumstances tending to prove that this pretended translation from the German was either the work of Lewis, or written under his immediate supervision.
The advertisement of the publisher, the first thing in the edition of 1782, gives us the name of the author, which is not to be found on the title-page, and remarks that he was assisted in some degree, by Ercole del Rio. Ponziani himself, in the preface which immediately follows the advertisement, confesses that the treatise owes to the Anonimo Modenese "that publicity which it never would have obtained if his long continued friendship had not influenced my mind, and if he had not promised to enrich my reflections with his own luminous observations." An explanatory table of abbreviations succeeds to the preface and then the work proper begins. It is divided into three parts. The FIRST PART consists of six chapters, and contains a description of the nature of the game and the movements of the pieces, a vocabulary of chess words and terms, some remarks on the relative value of pieces, the laws of the game, general observations on opening a party, on the attack and defence, on making exchanges, on castling, on the character and use of each piece, and on the Knight's tour round the Board. Then, after some excellent precepts for the benefit of the young player, the first part of the book closes with brief but acute and correct notices of the chief predecessors of Ponziani, namely, Damiano, Ruy Lopez, Gianuzio, Salvio, Carrera, Greco, Piacenza, Bertin, Stamma, del Rio, Lolli, Cozio, the Amateurs, and Philidor.
The SECOND PART is devoted to the various methods of commencing the game, and is subdivided into five openings: I. King's Knight's Game or Giuoco Piano. II. Those games in which the first player deviates from the Giuoco Piano at his second move. III. Those in which the second player varies from the Giuoco Piano in one of his first three moves. IV. The King's Gambit. V. The Queen's Gambit. (*) We have but little space for extracts. The following are taken from the fourth opening, which treats of the King's Gambit, and contain several striking and ingenious moves. The first example may be found on Pages 124-127.
(*) We add a concise index to the openings mentioned by Ponziani. It is arranged in accordance with the names at present employed; the paging as always in the text, refers to the editions of 1782 and 1829.
Damiano Gambit 100; Philidor's Defence to the Knight's opening 90-94 and 100. Petroff's Defence 103. Centre Counter Gambit in the Knight's Opening, 89-90. Giuoco Piano, 53-76. Two Knights Defence, 107-108. Scotch Gambit, 116-117. Queen's Bishop's Pawn's Game in the King's Knight's Opening, 114-117. Two Bishops' Game, 81- 84. Centre Gambit, 114-115. Knight's Defence in the King's Bishop's Opening, 79-80. Queen's Bishop's Pawn's Defence in the King's Bishop's Opening, 80-81. Queen's Bishop's Pawn's Opening, 84-88. King's Knight's Gambit, 124-128. Cunningham Gambit, 122-124. Salvio Gambit, 126. Allgaier Gambit, 133-134. King's Rook's Pawn's Gambit, 129-131. King's Bishop's Gambit, 131-132. King's Gambit declined, 120-122. Queen's Gambit, 137-151. French Game, 97-89. Centre Counter Gambit, 78. Fianchetto, 98-99.
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White.
1. P. to K. fourth
2. P. to K. B. fourth
3. K. Kt. to B. third
4. K. B. to Q. B. fourth
5. K. Kt. to K. fifth
6. K. to B. square
7. P. to Q. fourth
8. P. to K. Kt. third
9. K. to B. second
10. K. to his third
11. K. B. to his square
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Black.
P. to K. fourth
P. takes P.
P. to K. Kt. fourth
P. to K. Kt. fifth
Q. to K. R. fifth (check)
K. Kt. to R. third
P. to K. B. sixth
Q. to K. R. sixth (check)
Q. to K. Kt. seventh (check)
P. to Q. third
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This move of the Black appears to win the Queen, for if White take the Rook, Black checks with the Bishop. Ponziani, however, proceeds to show that, contrary to the opinion of Salvio (Book IV. chap. 19), the Queen may be saved with only the ultimate loss of one Pawn. His pretty proof of this assertion is in the following succession of skillul moves: -
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12. P. takes Kt. K.
13. K. to his fourth
14. K. takes Q. P.
15. K. to his fourth
16. Q. B. takes B.
17. K. Kt. takes K. Kt. P.
18. Q. takes P.
19. K. takes Q.
20. P. to Q. B. third.
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K. Kt. to B. fourth (check)
B. to R. third (check)
P. to Q. fourth (check)
P. to Q. B. third (check)
Q. takes K. R.
Q. takes K. R. P.
Q. takes K. Kt. P.
Q. takes Q. (check)
Q. B. takes P.
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And Black has the better game. The second specimen of Ponziani's skill is from pages 131-132.
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White.
1. P. to K. fourth
2. P. to K. B. fourth
3. K. B. to Q. B. fourth
4. K. to B. square
5. K. Kt. to B. third
6. P. to K. R. fourth
7. K. R. toits second (1. 2.)
8. K. Kt. to its fifth
9. P. to Q. fourth
10. Kt. to K. R. third
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Black.
P. to K. Kt. fourth
P. takes P.
Q. to K. R. fifth (check)
P. to K. Kt. fourth
Q. to K. R. fourth
K. B. to Kt. second
P. to K. Kt. fifth
K. Kt. To R. third
P. to K. B. third
Q. takes K. R. P.
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And wins a piece.
Variation 1.
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7. K. to Kt. square
8. K. to R. second
9. Kt. takes B.
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K. B. To Q. fifth (check)
P. to K. Kt. fifth
P. to K. Kt. Sixth (check)
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And wins.
Variation 2.
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7. P. to Q. fourth
8. K. R. to its second
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P. to Q. third
Q. B. to K. Kt. fifth.
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If now White take the Knight's Pawn with Rook's Pawn, Black will take the King's Rook; if, instead of this, he play King to Knight's square, then Black takes the King Rook's Pawn with Pawn, and upon White's capturing the Gambit Pawn with Queen's Bishop, advances Pawn to King Rook's sixth with a good attack and the advantage of a Pawn.
The Third Part is on the endings of games and embodies much that is beautiful and new. Its elaboration must have cost the author a vast amount of earnest thought and careful study, for later writers have found but little to correct and much to praise in this portion of Ponziani's treatise. After giving many methods of winning or drawing at the end of the game, this part closes, in the usual manner of chess writers, with some masterly positions constituting what the author styled a Semicenturia di Partiti. These are, as their title indicates, fifty in number, of which twenty-nine are composed by Ponziani himself. The following one is No. L., and occurs on page 229. The solution is by no means obvious, and it is a good example of its kind.
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White.
K. at K. R. seventh
B. at K. square
P. at K. Kt. sixth
P. at K. B. seventh
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Black.
K. at K. B. third.
R. at Q. Kt. square
Kt. at K. Kt. seventh
Kt. at Q. fourth.
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White lo play and draw.
Another example of a drawn game is found in the same part.
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White.
K. at Q. fifth
P. at Q. Kt. fifth
P. at Q. R. fifth
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Black.
K. at Q. second
P. at Q. Kt. second
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Black draws the game, even without the advantage of moving first.
The following to he found on pp. 201-202, in No. XVI., of the Semicenluria. Its examination will show it to be both pretty and ingenious: -
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White.
K. at Q. B. fourth
Kt. at K. third
P. at Q. Kt. third
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Black.
K. at Q. Kt. third
P. 's at K. B. fourth
Q. B. fourth;
Q. Kt. fifth; and Q. R. fourth
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White moves first and wins.
The next position is No. III. of the Semicenturia. It is given on p. 191, and ends with an exceedingly pretty mate. The situation of the pieces is as follows: -
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White.
K. at his R. square
Q. at K. B. fifth
R. at Q. R. square
B. at K. R. fourth
P.'s at K. R. third
K. Kt. second
Q. Kt. fourth
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Black.
K. at Q. Kt. third
Q. at her Kt. seventh
R. at K. Kt. third
P.'s at K. R. second
Q. B. third
Q. Kt. second
Q. R. third
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White to play and mate in seven moves.
The next position occurs on p. 213, and is the twenty-eighth of the Semiceninria: -
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White.
K. at Q. square
B. at K. R. eighth
P. at K. R. fourth
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Black.
K. at Q. Kt. eighth
P.'s at K. Kt. third
Q. B. second Q. R. seventh.
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White lo play and draw.
The last position is a suicidal problem, and although simple is rather pretty. It is Ponziani's No. XL, and is to be found on pp. 224-225.
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White.
K. at K. R. square
K. at Q. B. eighth
B. at Q. square
Bs. at Q. square and Q. second
Kt. at K. second
Ps. at K. R. second and K. Kt. Second
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Black.
K. at K. Kt. fifth
Kt. at Q. Kt. seventh
Ps. at K. R. fourth and K. B. fourth
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This elegant and carefully written book closes with a well arranged index of thirteen pages. The accompanying account of the various editions through which it has passed and of the translations it has undergone we have endeavoured to make as full and complete as possible. For a great portion of the bibliographical information we are indebted to a kind friend, whose knowledge of the literature of chess is wonderfully large and exact.
II giuoco incomparabile degli scacchi, sviluppato con nuovo metodo, per condurre chiunque colla maggiore facilità dai primi elementi sino alle finezze piu magistrali. Opera d'Autore Modenese, divisa in tre parti. Modena, per gli Eredi di Bartolomeo Soliani. 1769. Small 4to. pp. 383.
This is the first edition. It contains nothing that is not in the second, except a section on the Muzio Gambit, which, from some unaccountable reason, Ponziani omitted upon revising his work. In 1769, he considered the sacrifice of the Knight advantageous, but perhaps changed his mind previous to 1792. The Italian method of castleing may have caused this alteration in his opinions.
II giuoco incomparabile degli scacchi, - - - - divisa in tre parti. Seconda edizione purgata ed arricchita di nuovi moltissimi lumi e scoperte, Modena, per Bernardo Soliani. 1782. Small 4to.
This is the best edition. Thirteen years of additional study and practice had not been without their natural effect on Ponziani's mind. There are many corrections and much new matter in this impression. It is, of course, the most valuable one, both for the collector and student.
II giuoco incomparabile degli scacchi, - - - - divisa in tre parti. Seconda edizione. Venezia, a spese di Simone Occhi, per Simone Occhi. 1801. 8vo
This Venetian edition, although it has Seconda edizione on the title-page, has no connection with Ponziani's own second edition, but is a reprint of the 1769 edition, with none of the improvements contained in that of 1782. The publisher was evidently not aware that the work had ever been revised.
II giuoco incomparabile degli scacchi, divisa in tre parti. Terza edizione. In Venezia, nella stamperia Negri, a spese di Simone Occhi, MDCCCXII. 8vo. pp. VIII. and 380.
Schmidt is wrong when he asserts that this second Venetian edition is copied from that of 1782. Simone Occhi was still in the same ignorance of Ponziani's revisional labours as in 1801. The table of abbreviations is wanting; the first part contains only five chapters; the critical notices of previous authors close with Cozio, and the six pages of precepts are not to be found: and there are many things in the games and index different from the Modenese edition of 1782.
Il giuoco incomparabile degli Scacchi, ----- divisa in tre parti; purgala ed arricchita di nuovi moltissimi lumi e scoperte. Prima edizione romana eseguita su quella di Modena nel 1782, Roma, tipografía di Demenico Ercole. 1729. 8vo. pp. VIII. and 242.
This is an exact re-impression, page for page, of the amended and enlarged edition of 1782. For practical use, therefore, it is just as desirable.
Le cinque aperture del giuoco degli scacchi, tratte dall' opera dell' Autore Modenese, seconda edizione stampata in Modena nel 1782. Edizione veronese eseguita con metodo più facile, più breve e più intelligibile. Verona, dalla tipografía di Pietro Bisesti. 1837. 18mo. pp. 152.
Le leggi del giuoco degli scacchi, tratte dall' opera dell' Autore Modenese. Verona, tipografia di Pietro Bisesti. 1837. 16mo. pp. 12.
This Veronese edition is very much abridged. We have not been able to learn the editor's name. The last title is only a separate impression of the chess laws. Besides the Italian editions already enumerated there is another and probably abridged edition published in Milan. Melzi, in his Dizionario di ???r? anonime e pseudnime di Scrittori Italiani (Milano, 1848-52) says, vol. I. p. 463, in speaking of Ponziani's book, "Ne abbiamo anche un' edizione di Milano, pel Sonzogno, 1831. 12mo." There is also extant in Modena another book on chess by Ponziani, which has never been printed. It is in the possession of his family and bears the following title: -
La pratica del giuoco degli scacchi. ossia il primo scioglimento dci pezzi diviso in due aperture principali; nuovo sistma pratico inedito dell' Avvocato Canonico Domenico Ponziani Autore del libro dallo stesso composto ad uso privato 1782.
An accurate description of this manuscript is much to be desired.
The incomparable game of chess, developed after a new method of the greatest facility, from the first elements to the most scientific artifices of the game. Translated from the Italian of Dr. Ercole dal Rio by J. S Bingham, Esq. To which is prefixed an essay on the origin of the game by Eyles Irwin, Esq. London, printed for J.J. Stockdale, No. 41, Pall Mall. 1820. 8vo. pp. XV and 340.
The translator has committed a singular blunder in ascribing Ponziani's work to Ercole del Rio, or dal Rio, as he erroneously prints it. He was unfortunate, too, in not being aware of the amended edition of 1782; he has apparently used that of Venice, 1812, in making his English version. The insertion of part of Mr. Irwin's essay, first published in the fifth volume of the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, hardly compensates for the omission of thirty of Ponziani's Semicenturia di Partiti. The twenty positions which are retained are on engraved diagrams. J. S. Bingham is supposed to be a nom de plume. The English critics have never hazarded an opinion as to the real name of the translator.
Das Schachspiel nach dem Italienischen des Autore Modenese; dargestellt von V. Mosler. Mit 7 Kupfertafeln. Coblentz, bei J. H. Hölscher. 1822. 8vo. pp. XII and 108. — American Chess Monthly.
It seems probable that Bilguer, and after him Schmidt, both err in asserting that Mosler made this translation from one of the Venetian editions. His preface distinctly mentions the second and better edition of 1782, and it would be strange if, knowing the existence of this, he should have used a poorer one. In rendering his author he has, however, made so many and so great changes in the arrangement of the matter that it would be almost impossible to institute an accurate comparison of his version with the original. He leaves out, for reasons given, both the laws and end-games. Avowedly preferring Koch's and Allgaier's notation, and the latter's tables, he has worked the book over into such a shape as to adjust itself to a corresponding mode of printing. He has transferred all the games into seven tables, and has then thrown all the rest of the matter into the form of notes. His preface is in many respects curious. He professes himself astounded at the incomprehensible and wilful errors of several great players such as Philidor and Greco, and sets forth his own opinions and criticisms with all the assumption of a chess king. - American Chess Monthly.
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Girolamo Tiraboschi
"Notizie biografiche e letterarie in continuazione della Biblioteca modonese"
Reggio 1837
 Il Monsignor Domenico Lorenzo Avvocato Canonico Ponziani Patrizio Modenese, Protonotario Apostolico, e Professore emerito nella patria Università, nacque in questa Capitale il dì 9 Novembre 1719 dal Dottore Ponziano Ponziani, e dall' Apollonia Righi Modonesi. Fece egli il corso di umane lettere e di filosofia alle scuole dei PP. Gesuiti, e poscia si applicò alla Giurisprudenza in questa Università di S. Carlo nella quale fu laureato in ambo i diritti alli 24 Gennajo 1742.
Quantunque non contasse allora gli anni 24 tuttavia i saggi di sapere da lui dati lo fecero promuovere alli 12 di Luglio di quest' anno stesso a pubblico Lettore di Leggi, cogli emolumenti e prerogative godute dall' antecessor suo Dottor Canonico Ignazio Ponziani di lui fratello che rinunziò la Cattedra, e alli 4 Dicembre del 1746 venne ammesso nel Collegio degli Avvocati.
Mentre però il Ponziani accudiva con fervore allo studio della Giurisprudenza si consecrava ad un tempo alle scienze teologiche, e secondando la vocazione sua al Sacerdozio, celebrò il suo primo sacrifìzio il dì 1 Maggio dell' anno 1764 contandone 44 e mesi 6 di età.
Né tardò molto a ricevere da Sua Santità Clemente XIII. una testimonianza della stima che avevasi del suo merito, e delle sue virtù, nell' essergli stato conferito un Canonicato in questa Cattedrale, di cui prese possesso il I° Maggio 1766. Allorché il magnanimo Francesco III di sempre gloriosa ricordanza ristaurò nel 1772 la Modenese Università, il Canonico Ponziani ottenne di essere esonerato dall' insegnamento delle leggi civili, fino a quell' epoca sostenuto con somma sua lode non meno che con profitto grande de' suoi uditori; i servigi però da lui prestati gli meritarono la pensione, ed il titolo di Professore onorario della Università di Modena con tutti i diritti, privilegi ed emolumenti proprii di questa qualità. Accaduta nel 3 Gennajo dell' anno 1784 la morte del Vicario Generale Monsignor Canonico Ignazio Ponziani fratello del nostro Professore, fu a questo conferita nel susseguente giorno la carica di Vicario di questa Diocesi da Monsignor Vescovo Fogliani con onorevole speciale patente, e nel giorno 17 dello stesso mese ed anno con Diploma speditogli da Roma venne insignito del titolo di Protonotario Apostolico.
Quando poi nel giorno 21 Ottobre 1785 la Chiesa Modenese rimase vedova dell' amato suo Pastore Monsignor Fogliani sunnominato, i Canonici radunati in Capitolo nominarono a voti unanimi nel dì seguente 22 il Ponziani Vicario Capitolare, ed allorché l' Arciprete di questa Cattedrale Monsignor Tiburzio Cortese fu nominato Vescovo di Modena, il Ponziani nel giorno 26 di Aprile dell' anno 1786 prese a nome di lui il relativo possesso in questa Cattedrale. Volendo poi Monsignor Cortese mostrare il ben dovuto riguardo ai distinti meriti del Ponziani, gli confermò la carica di suo Vicario Generale, carica che egli accettò ma soltanto fino al S. Pietro dell' anno stesso.
Impegnato però obbligantemente dal Prelato a proseguire in tale uffizio gli fu conceduto a sollievo ed a Coadjutore il sacerdote Dottor Antonio Zerbini divenuto poi Canonico, ed al quale dopo un anno circa il Vicario Ponziani rìnunziò questa carica non ostante che insistenti fossero le premure di Monsignor Vescovo perché egli continuasse, e lusinghiere, e clementi le insinuazioni a ciò fare espressegli a viva voce da S. A. S. Ercole III. di gloriosa ricordanza.
Il delicato timore però di non poter più soddisfare debitamente a tanto incarico in vista specialmente della naturale gracilità di sua salute vieppiù dall' età affievolita, la vinse sopra ogni umano riguardo.
Mentre era Vicario generale assunse anche l' impegno di Padre Spirituale del venerabile Monastero delle Salesiane, alle quali, ed al fiorente loro Educandato prestò assiduamente l' opera sua utilissima finché visse, sostenendone i diritti, consigliandole, e dirigendole anche negli affari temporali con quello zelo, e disinteresse che gli erano connaturali.
Resasi vacante in questa Cattedrale nel Marzo del 1787 la Dignità di Ginnastici, il Capitolo dei Signori Canonici, usando del proprio diritto di Giuspatronato, nominò Monsignor Ponziani a questa Dignità di cui prese possesso il 17 Marzo dell' anno stesso con Breve Pontificio; il che seguì in benemerenza dei servigi sempre da lui prestati al Capitolo medesimo.
Costante fama godette egli non meno di integerrimo, che di profondo Giurisprudente; coltivò oltre la propria le lingue Greca, Latina, Alemanna, Francese, Spagnuola, nelle quali era versato in guisa, che per proprio uso scrisse metodi per apprenderle facilmente.
Fu amante dell' amena letteratura, e ad una non ordinaria dottrina accoppiò buon gusto nella poesia latina ed italiana; e per questo suo senso dell' ottimo in ogni cosa veniva ognora consultato non solamente sui difficili casi legali, e teologici, ma eziando sopra argo menti di erudiziene e di amene lettere.
Se le cose fin qui dette dimostrano che Monsignor Ponziani fu un rispettabile sacerdote, ed un dotto soggetto, quanto qui aggiunger dobbiamo, ce lo presenterà come autore di opera unica né di gran mole sì, ma bastevole ad assicurargli vieppiù in qualunque tempo non dubbia fama di sapere e di penetrante ingegno.
Dedicatosi per sollievo delle gravi sue incombenze al giuoco degli scacchi, fin dal 1749 aveva dettate alcune osservazioni pratiche per esercizio proprio.
Divenuto in appresso sacerdote, e Canonico, si limitò ad occuparsi in questo geniale trattenimento nelle vacanze canonicali, e ritirandosi egli allora in un suo podere situato nella villa suburbana del SS. Crocefisso detta la Crocetta scrisse il libro che si ha alle stampe intitolato:
Il giuoco incomparabile degli Scacchi – Opera di Autor Modenese.
Fuori di questo tempo di vacanza egli attendeva ai doveri proprii di Ecclesiastico, e con tanta delicatezza di coscienza che non giucava agli scacchi se non qualche rara volta, e ad eccitamento soltanto del suo intrinseco amico il Consigliere Ercole del Rio, eccellente giuocatore di scacco, e che riuscì a vincere la somma modestia del Vicario Ponziani inducendolo a pubblicare il suddetto lavoro.
L'importanza dell'opera succitata del Ponziani esige che se ne faccia una breve storia: nell'anno 1769 fu pubblicata coi tipi degli Eredi Soliani in Modena la prima edizione dell'opera del nostro Autore il quale celò, non si sa per qual motivo, il proprio nome sotto le parole Anonimo Modenese, cosa che in appresso produsse degli equivoci, perchè molti in seguito attribuirono quest'opera al suo amico Ercole del Rio soprannominato, il quale non ne fu veramente l'Autore ma lo coadiuvò assai come rilevasi dalla prefazione del libro che appena pubblicato fu riconosciuto eccellente e classico, sia per la istruzione piena in esso contenuta, sia per la chiarezza e connessione del metodo ivi usato.
Questa prima edizione però non corrispose alle idee dell'Autore, perchè vi si notano molti errori, e scorrezioni di stampa, cosa che gli rincrebbe assai, e ne procurò quindi una seconda che comparve nell'anno 1782, ma ricca di giunte e variata in modo che si può dire un'opera nuova, in cui incontransi scoperte sul giuoco degli scacchi sommamente interessanti. Dopo la morte del Ponziani si riprodusse coi torchj di Venezia per due volte nel 1801, e nel 1812, ma sempre sulla prima edizione di questo libro, senza toglierne gli errori, ed anzi aggiungendone alcuni. Nel 1829 poi fu ristampato in Roma coi tipi di Domenico Ercole, e molto plausibilmente sulla edizione del 1782; le copie della quale eransi già da molto tempo rendute difficili a trovarsi, stante il rapido spaccio delle medesime, prova non dubbia del pregio di questo lavoro del nostro Autore. Presso i sui discendenti poi esiste manoscritto un altro opuscolo che porta il seguente titolo: La pratica del giuoco degli Scacchi ossia il primo scioglimento dei pezzi diviso in due aperture principali; nuovo sistema pratico inedito dell' Avvocato Canonico Domenico Ponziani Autore del libro dallo stesso composto ad uso privato 1782.
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Arqueología del Ajedrez 
