Annotated chess game: Year 1619 - The first recorded chess game

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ANNOTATED GAME

Year 1619 - The first recorded chess game
Gioachino (1) vs. Unkown
Annotated by: cash1981 (1200)
Chess opening: Guatemala defence (B00)

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Chess notation is a wonderful invention -- a time machine that allows us to enjoy chess games of all eras, even those played hundreds of years ago. Here we see one of the first great chess masters, Gioachino Greco, in action. While Greco is credited with developing some gambits, his main contribution to chess was to publish witty collections of games that illustrate his theories. Greco considered the following one of his best games.

1. e4	Chess notation is a wonderful invention -- a time machine that allows us to enjoy chess games of all eras, even those played hundreds of years ago. Here we see one of the first great chess masters, Gioachino Greco, in action. While Greco is credited with developing some gambits, his main contribution to chess was to publish witty collections of games that illustrate his theories. Greco considered the following one of his best games.
	3 comments irresponsible (1200) on 13-Jul-08: Okay so has anyone noticed that this is copied exactly from the Chessmaster annotation of the same game? cash1981 (1200) on 29-Oct-08: I dont know what you mean, but I did find this game in Chessmaster if I am not mistaken. zedraxis (1550) on 21-Jun-09: The purpose of annotating a game is for the analyst to share his or her own viewpoint on the game. Copying an annotation from another source does not accomplish this. Chessmaster owners already have this viewpoint to draw on. Consider the following questions: What moves were good or bad and why? What alternatives were available and what would the result have been? If using other annotations, do you agree or disagree and why? Give a new angle to the game.


1... b6	The Queen's Fianchetto opening. An early fianchetto by Black shows a willingness to defend against a big pawn center, picking away at it from the wings. In ceding so much territory, Black must be on constant guard against direct attacks on the King, as this game amply illustrates.



2. d4	The natural move. White is happy to build an advantage in space.



2... Bb7	Greco often preferred developing his bishop to d3, rather than c4 or b5. As this game progresses, you will see that this piece is perfectly placed.



3. Bd3	Greco often preferred developing his bishop to d3, rather than c4 or b5. As this game progresses, you will see that this piece is perfectly placed.



3... f5	Black offers a pawn to break up the enemy center.
	1 comment raymond2002 (1398) on 12-Jul-12: Is this the Matovinsky Gambit?


4. exf5	White accepts the pawn, and the fireworks begin.



4... Bxg2 5. Qh5+ g6	It is interesting that hundreds of years after this game was played, all of the moves so far are still considered "book." If you weren't aware of the date, you might believe that this game was from the Hypermodern movement of the early 20th century.



6. fxg6 Nf6	Black gets greedy and loses immediately. The typical continuation is 6...Bg7 7.gxh7 Kf8 8.hxg8=Q Kxg8 9.Qg6 (or Qg4) Bxh1 and Black has a reasonable game.



7. gxh7+ Nxh5	Gleefully seizing the enemy queen, but not seeing the danger.



8. Bg6#	Even after four centuries, some games can still elicit a smile.
	3 comments irresponsible (1200) on 13-Jul-08: Every comment in this annotation is verbatim from the Chessmaster chess program. Hmm....any rules about plagiarism on this site? cash1981 (1200) on 29-Oct-08: I can't see why that should be a problem. jlconn (2064) on 27-Aug-15: You can't see why plagiarism should be a problem???