Philippe Ambroise Durand was a French abb� and chess writer. Born in Fresn�-la-M�re, Calvados, he was professor of rhetoric at Falaise and later taught philosophy at Lisieux before retiring in 1860. Durand collaborated with Jean-Louis Preti to write three books on chess, including the two-volume Strat�gie raisonn�e des fins de partie. These were the first books devoted to the practical endgame, and included concepts such as conjugate squares and the opposition. He is also said to have coined the chess term tr�buchet. Durand died in Lisieux in 1880.