bile degli Scacchi, by Mr. Bingham, is a valuable work, and would have been much more so, had Mr. B. translated the second instead of the third edition. Mr. Cochrane has also done the Chess world a service by his recent publication of the games of the celebrated ANONYMOUS MODENESE.

To these the Editor has been induced to add the present translation of D. P. Carrera's Treatise on the game, from a conviction that considerable improvement may be derived from a perusal of it, and also because the extreme scarcity of the original has hitherto prevented its being known to the English amateur.

Though Carrera was, doubtless, inferior in skill to Salvio, and some other players of his day, yet

Mr. S. was, unfortunately, too regardless of his fame to pay that attention to his Works which the reader has a right to expect.

The pecuniary difficulties in which he was unfortunately involved, compelled him to write rapidly, and made him gladly prefer copying games from other books to giving new ones, which would have required a careful and laborious examination.

PREFACE.

his work contains much that is not to be found in other Treatises: the various methods of checkmating with a Pawn-the different odds he gives, and particularly those of the "castled king," render his work at once amusing and instructive.

The Editor has not thought fit to translate the whole of the original, being unwilling to make a large volume. What he has omitted could not, however, be of any use to the practical chess-player; such for example as the chapter on the origin of

the

game; an account of a new game on a board of ninety-six squares, played with the chess-men and

two additional pieces, &c; an exception has, however, been made in Carrera's account of Chess players, including those of his own time, which appeared to the editor too amusing and interesting to omit.

Every game, position, and move, is given, and to these the editor has occasionally added notes, which he hopes may prove useful.

Carrera was born in 1571, and died in 1647; his work was originally published at Militello, in Sicily, in 1617; it is a quarto volume of 556 pages, besides the table of contents; it is entitled, “Il Gioco degli Scacchi di D. Pietro Carrera," and is divided into eight books; it is one of the scarcest works on Chess; the copy in possession of the editor is the only one he has ever seen, nor is there, perhaps, another in this country. It is equally rare to be met with on the continent.

It may, perhaps, not be improper to add, that this edition is strictly limited to a small number of impressions, and that fifty copies have been printed on a large size paper.

Nassau Street, Soho,

30th November, 1822.

A TREATISE,

&c. &c. &c.

FIRST BOOK.

CONTAINING VARIOUS ODDS, BEGINNING WITH THE ODDS of THE KNIGHT AND CONCLUDING WITH THE ODDS OF THE FIRST TWO MOVES.

CHAPTER I.

ON THE ODDS OF THE KNIGHT FOR THE MOVE.

7. Q. takes Q.

7. If the Q. Kt. take the Q. White will gain the K. P., and if he take the Q. with the King, White will win the K. B. P., in either case White wins a Pawn. DAMIANO gives this opening as favourable for him who receives the odds, overlooking the loss of the Pawn.

When the White plays the Q. P. two squares, the Black should neither play the Q. P. nor take the adversary's Pawn with his, but should play Q. to K. second square, because in this manner he loses nothing.

7. Q. to Q. R. fourth square 7. Q. Kt. to Q. B. third sq.

and checks

8. Q. P. one square 9. K. takes K. B.

10. King removes 11. K. B. takes P.

8. K. B. takes B. and checks 9. Q. to K. Kt. fourth square and checks

10. Q. takes Q. P.

11. Q. takes K. Kt. P. and wins easily.

* It would be better to advance K. P.