Greco, surnamed "Cusentio" and more frequently "il Calabrese", was a native of Calabria, the same province of Naples that had produced the chess masters Giovanni Leonardo and Michele di Mauro. He first began keeping a manuscript of games when in Rome but, like other early chess players, he travelled extensively in order to make his fortune, crossing to England in 1622 and playing with all the leading figures, at least two of whom, Sir Francis Godolphin and Nicholas Mountstephen, obtained copies of his MS. Murray states that his "games are naturally based upon the favourite Italian openings of his day ... [his] great service to chess lies in the fact that he made this material known to a wider circle of players ... his MSS. became one of the most important productions in the literature of chess." However, Murray adds that neither the MSS nor the early printed versions of Greco's games were annotated, with the result that the principles which the games illustrated were not properly grasped for several generations (cf. Murray pp. 827-30, 840). The first edition was dedicated to Montague, Earle of Lindsey.

Illustrated.