Dubois Serafino (10.10.1817 – 15.01.1899)
Dubois was a leading player of the 19th century in Italy. He was one of the pioneers of the theory of chess openings. His early career coincided with the time when the Italian rules of chess differed from the ones in the other European countries.
In 1845, Dubois played a number of friendly games against Marmaduke Wyvill who was on tour in Italy. Dubois won about two-thirds of them. In 1855 he went to Paris and beat de Riviere by +22-8=3.
Best results: At the 1862 London tournament he finished fifth ahead of Steinitz, Lowenthal, Blackburne and others. Later the same year he lost a match to Steinitz with a score +3 – 5 = 1.
The rest part of his life was devoted to theoretical studies and writings. Together with Ferrante he was the editor of the first Italian chess column, ‘L’Album’, in Rome, 1847. He was also an author of a number of pamphlets and articles about openings.
