Chess Basics: Greco's Great Game

In this lesson, we analyze one of Gioachino Greco's famous games to see how a chess master uses the opening principles to get off to a strong start and deliver an early checkmate. 

Who Was Gioachino Greco?

Gioachino Greco (c. 1600 - c. 1634) was one of the first known chess masters. Though his games were played centuries ago, we still have records of them today thanks to his careful notation. Greco’s games are somewhat simpler to understand than games by modern grandmasters, which make them a good fit for newer chess players who want to study games by great players.

Greco vs. (Unknown)

Greco played White in this game. Unfortunately, the name of his opponent has been lost to history.

In the first few moves, both players correctly tried to gain control of the center and develop their pieces. However, as the White pawns advanced, Black was forced to retreat to avoid losing material. Greco took advantage of their retreat and charged forward, seizing even more territory and creating a direct attack on the king.

White has won the battle for central control and piece development. Now it is time to attack!

This queen move was a major turning point in the game. By moving the queen into the center to join the white bishop's attack on Black's f-pawn, Greco created a powerful battery (a pair of aligned pieces aiming in the same direction) that threatened checkmate on the next move. Qxf7 would win the game for White.  

Black saw this impending mate and tried to defend the vulnerable f-pawn by moving their knight to h6. Unfortunately, they failed to notice a critical weakness in this plan: Greco's ability to capture on h6 with his dark square bishop. After this exchange, Greco was free to move in for the win.