Chess. GRECO. Le jeu des eschets.

8vo. Contemporary brown calf binding with richly gilded spine. Pp. (24, including Titlepage), 343, (1). Bookplate on the front pastedown. Weak hinges. Worn lower edge of spine and dented corners. Some signs of wear, tear on the front and back edges.

Very rare French edition. Contains more than 70 brilliant and interesting games to study.

Gioachino Greco, known as Il Calabrese, was one of the first Italian chess players who, along with Il Puttino Giovanni Leonardo Di Bona, contributed to Italy's supremacy. He is considered one of the best players between the 16th and 17th centuries. Having arrived at the French court in 1621 to compete with the rest of Europe, he met some famous players, such as the Duke of Nemours, Isaac Arnaud de Cobeville, and Chaumont Lasalle, but no one ever managed to beat him. During his stay in London, Greco developed the idea of recording entire games, rather than positions, to study and include them in his manuscripts. He returned to Paris in 1624, where he rewrote his manuscript collection to reflect his new ideas. He then traveled to Spain and played at the court of Philip IV. There, he defeated his mentor and the strongest player of the time (besides himself), Don Mariano Morano.

Convinced to travel to the New Indies, he died of illness in 1634.