Notable Games
- 1620 Greco, Gioacchino vsNN 1-0 Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation 6 moves Greco Six moves, and the rook is gone: after 3…b5 the thrust 4.a4 c6 5.axb5 cxb5 6.Qf3 forks the b5 pawn and the rook on a8. The trap predates Greco but survives in his manuscripts, and it is still the standard warning against 3…b5 in the Queen's Gambit Accepted.
- 1620 Greco, Gioacchino vsNN 1-0 Italian Game: Classical Variation, Center Attack 7 moves Greco A seven-move lesson in the Giuoco Piano: 6…Nxe4 looks like a free pawn, but the quiet 7.Qd5 attacks the knight on e4 and threatens mate on f7 at the same time, and there is no move that meets both.
- 1620 Greco, Gioacchino vsNN 1-0 Owen Defense: Matovinsky Gambit 8 moves Greco Mate on the eighth move with a queen sacrifice — 5.Qh5+ g6 6.fxg6 Nf6 7.gxh7+ Nxh5 8.Bg6# — one of the most reproduced miniatures in all of chess literature, and the single game most often used to introduce Greco.
- 1620 Greco, Gioacchino vsNN 1-0 King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit, Greco Variation 9 moves Greco The King's Gambit line that carries Greco's name: after 6…Qg4 the double blow 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Ne5+ forks king and queen, and 9.Nxg4 leaves him a clear piece ahead.
- 1620 Greco, Gioacchino vsNN 1-0 King's Gambit Accepted: Becker Defense 10 moves Greco A King's Gambit king-hunt conducted by the queen alone: 6.Nxg5 fxg5 7.Qh5+ chases the black king out to d6 and straight back again, and 10.Qe5# finishes it in ten.
- 1620 NN vsGreco, Gioacchino 0-1 Latvian Gambit: Greco Variation 10 moves Greco The counter-gambit 2…f5 was analysed by Greco and was long called the Greco Counter-Gambit before it was renamed the Latvian. Here he lets White win the rook on h8, then traps the queen that took it: 8…Ng4 9.Qh4 Ne3+ 10.dxe3 Qxh4.
- 1620 Greco, Gioacchino vsNN 1-0 King's Pawn Game: Damiano Defense 11 moves Greco Greco's refutation of Damiano's Defence, 2…f6: the knight sacrifice 3.Nxe5 fxe5 4.Qh5+ drives the black king from e7 all the way to h6, where 11.hxg5# mates.
- 1620 NN vsGreco, Gioacchino 0-1 Italian Game: Giuoco Piano 13 moves Greco An early recorded smothered mate. Greco's queen invades on h4 and then gives itself up — 12…Qg1+ 13.Nxg1 Nf2# — the pattern that every player still learns four centuries later.
- 1620 Greco, Gioacchino vsNN 1-0 French Defense: Mediterranean Defense 13 moves Greco An early example of the “Greek gift”: 7.Bxh7+ Kxh7 8.Ng5+ is the bishop sacrifice already analysed in Greco's collection. Here the king declines to hide, runs to g6, and is hunted into the centre for 13.Qd3#.
- 1620 Greco, Gioacchino vsNN 1-0 Italian Game: Classical Variation, Closed Variation 14 moves Greco A Giuoco Piano brilliancy: 9.Nxg5 fxg5 10.Qh5+ rips the shelter off the black king, and after 13.Bxg8 Rxg8 the quiet 14.Qf6# ends it without another check.
- 1620 Greco, Gioacchino vsNN 1-0 Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Traditional Line 14 moves Greco The Greco Gambit in the Giuoco Piano — 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 — is named for him, and this is his own model handling of it: the e- and d-pawns drive the black pieces back to the first rank before the bishop settles on f6.
- 1620 NN vsGreco, Gioacchino 0-1 Bishop's Opening: Calabrese Countergambit 15 moves Greco The Calabrese Counter-Gambit, 2…f5, is named after Greco himself — il Calabrese. He hands over the knight on g8 and the h7 pawn, chases the gorged white queen back across the board, and finishes with a knight fork, 15…Ne2+.
- 1620 Greco, Gioacchino vsNN 1-0 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Fried Liver Attack 17 moves Greco The Fried Liver Attack at its most unforgiving: 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qf3+ starts a march that ends with the black king on c5, mated in the middle of an almost full board by 17.b4#.
- 1620 NN vsGreco, Gioacchino 0-1 King's Gambit Declined: Panteldakis Countergambit, Greco Variation 18 moves Greco Greco meets the King's Gambit with the symmetrical 2…f5. The rooks come off on h1, and his queen and knights run the white king down to a smothered finish: 17…Qe1+ 18.Nxe1 Nf2#.