16th century in sports

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 30. Chapters: 16th century in chess, English cricket in the 14th to 17th centuries, Castling, Sicilian Defence, History of cricket to 1725, List of early English cricketers to 1786, History of English amateur cricket, Two Knights Defense, Giulio Cesare Polerio, Slav Defense, Giuoco Piano, 1601 to 1725 in sports, Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, Damiano Defence, Richmond Green, Robert Paston, 1st Earl of Yarmouth, Pedro Damiano, Mitcham Cricket Green, Jasper Vinall, Ruy López de Segura, Giovanni Leonardo Di Bona, John Derrick, Paolo Boi, Gog Magog Games, Thomas Lennard, 1st Earl of Sussex. Excerpt: The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves: 1. e4 c5The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4. "Indeed, most statistical surveys suggest that 1.d4 is the most successful first move for White, but only because 1...c5 scores so highly against 1.e4." New in Chess stated in its 2000 Yearbook that of the games in its database, White scored 56.1% in 296,200 games beginning 1.d4, but a full two percentage points lower (54.1%) in 349,855 games beginning 1.e4. "The main culprit responsible for this state of affairs" was the Sicilian, which held White to a 52.3% score in 145,996 games. One sixth (17%) of all games between grandmasters, and one-quarter (25%) of the games in the Chess Informant database, begin with the Sicilian. Almost one-quarter of all games use the Sicilian Defence. Grandmaster John Nunn notes that the reason for the Sicilian Defence's popularity "is its combative nature; in many lines Black is playing not just for equality, but for the advantage. The drawback is that White often obtains an early initiative, so Black has to take care not to fall victim to a quick attack." The earliest recorded notes on the Sicilian Defence date back to the late 16th century by the Italian chess players Giulio Polerio and Gioachino Greco. By advancing the c-pawn two squares, Black asserts control over the d4-square and begins the fight for the centre of the board. The move resembles 1...e5, the next most common response to 1.e4, in that respect. Unlike 1...e5, however, 1...c5 breaks the symmetry of the position, which strongly influences both players' future actions. White, having pushed a kingside pawn, tends to hold the initiative on that side of the board. Moreover, 1...c5 does little for Black's development, unlike moves such as 1...e5, 1...g6, or 1...Nc6, which either develop a minor piece or prepare to do so. In many variations of the Sicilian, Black makes a number of further pawn moves in the opening (fo