17
Feb
Gioacchino Greco – Italy
Gioacchino Greco (1600–c.1634) was an Italian chess player and writer. Greco recorded some of the first chess games on record, 77 in total. His games, all against anonymous opponents (“NN”), were quite possibly constructs, but acted as highly useful tools for spotting opening traps.
Gioachino Greco was a remarkable chess player between Ruy López de Segura and François-André Danican Philidor. As one of the players during the age of “Italian Romantic Style”, he studied the Italian opening (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4), and published his analysis in the form of short games around 1625. In 1665, after his death, the manuscripts were published in London. These games are regarded as classics of early chess literature and are still sometimes taught to beginners. Greco loved to use the Sicilian Defence, which was invented by an Italian bishop.
Greco paved the way for many of the attacking legends of the Romantic era, such as Adolf Anderssen, Paul Morphy, and François Philidor.
Source page: Wikipedia under Wikipedia license
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gioacchino_Greco
