Durand Philippe Ambroise (1799-11.02.1880)
French abbé and chess writer. One of the few French writers who has left a name in the annals of chess of the 19th century. Durand was a professor of Rhetoric then instructor of Philosophy. He was part author of the popular La stratégie raisonnée: 1- des ouvertures; 2- des parties à avantage and 3- des fins de partie. His chief claim to fame is through his formulation of the rule of opposition in King and Pawns endings and of the doctrine of companion squares.