GRECO, Gioachino.

First edition of this collection of this treatise on chess by the Italian master Gioachino Greco (d. c. 1634), also called Il Calabrese, translated from his Italian manuscript by Francis Beale. Greco was probably the greatest player of his day and is sometimes considered to be the first professional player. He is also notable for being one of the first to record chess games in their entirety, though they may have been entirely constructed by him rather than being based on real play. His gambits are marked by their aggressive openings and sacrifice of pieces during attacking play, so as to control the centre or prevent the opponent’s king from castling.

The work begins with three poems on chess, one running for several pages, a history of the game, descriptions of the pieces, board and rules, and some ‘general observations’ or advice on tactics. The value of this work lies in the collection of 94 gambits, which are defined as sequences of moves to be carried to the conclusion, in which all of the loser’s moves will have been forced by the winner, while the winner’s moves will be very difficult for the loser to predict. Some are variations of preceding gambits, Greco indicating at which point to begin the variation. Also included are two very quick checkmates, the Fool’s Mate (two moves) and the Scholar’s Mate (four moves).

This was a royalist production, containing the portrait of Charles I and dedicated to Montagu Bertie, 2^nd Earl of Lindsey (1608-66), who was in retirement after his exploits on the royalist side during the Civil War, and presumably much devoted to chess.