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Paolo Boi (1528–1598) was an Italian chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest chess players of the 16th century. In 1549, he beat Pope Paul III in a chess match.
The chess treatises created by Boi were not preserved. A small number of his chess games have survived to the present time, such as the opening of his game against the chess player Scovara, which gained fame, but only the first fourteen moves have survived.Chessgames.com, Scovara vs Paolo Boi (C53), 1575.
He was the first who, without seeing the board, played three games at once, and at the same time conversed with other parties upon different topics. In France, Catherine de Medici, who was also adept at chess, showered favours upon him; and, in Portugal, he had the honour of having the King Don Sebastian for his adversary.
After a brief conversation, Paolo Boi was surprised to learn that the woman played chess. He agreed to a game, during which he quickly realised the exceptional strength of his opponent. The game continued until a critical position was reached, at which point Paolo Boi confidently announced:
- “Mate in two.”
The position is traditionally presented as a mate in two moves for White.
https://www.chess.com/emboard?id=14349797
At the moment when Paolo Boi was about to move his knight, the narrative states that the White Queen suddenly transformed into a Black Queen, suggesting a supernatural intervention.
https://www.chess.com/emboard?id=14349805
The woman is said to have declared:
- “Ah, Paolo, you will not win. It is I who have a Queen, and you have none.”
Paolo Boi reportedly replied calmly that this was of no consequence, reiterating that the position remained a mate in two. According to the legend, the mate is executed after the sequence Nb5, Qxe7, Rd4, confirming his original announcement.
The game progressed in silence until a decisive position was reached. At that moment, the peasant allegedly declared with confidence:
- “Mate in seven.”
Upon analysing the position, Paolo Boi realised that the proposed combination did indeed lead inevitably to mate, but that on the final move the arrangement of the pieces on the board would form a cross - a Christian symbol incompatible with the nature of his opponent.
https://www.chess.com/emboard?id=14349867
Faced with this realisation, the peasant hesitated and did not execute the final blow, abruptly abandoning the game and disappearing. The narrative interprets this outcome as the Devil’s inability to complete a victory that would require the formation of a Christian symbol.
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