Govert Westerveld, our well-known Spanish member of Dutch origin, resident in Blanca (Murcia), has been and is still very active as a draughts and chess historian and as an author of books and articles in his fields of interest. 

Meanwhile retired, he has started to write books in English, the page www.lulu.com/spotlight/moriscoricote gives an overview of his impressive output over the years. His last four books about chess (in English) deal with the period 1475-1500, the exciting time of Lucena when new rules developed ... and among his latest works is also a biography of Lucena’s father, the ambassador Juan Ramírez de Lucena. 
Govert Westerveld is currently already busy with the preparation of further books in English:

  • his book on Queen Isabel la Católica (Valencia 2004) in 2 volumes
  • a book on the research concerning Lucena
  • the wanderings of Lucena after 1500
  • the wanderings of Francesh Vicent after 1500

In order that fellow researchers know about the results of his research (and not have to reinvent the wheel), Govert Westerveld offers his books online as PDFs - for this purpose he has created the group Lucena's Chess History on BigTent.com where you can join as a member for a small annual fee of $5 only! After your registration and approval of your membership you will have access to all his pdf files and this way be able to read through his books. And you may still think about buying the one or the other as printed matter ...

Email Govert Westerveld:

Some further links: