Gioacchino Greco recorded some of the first chess games on record, 77 in total. His games - all against anonymous opponents ("NN"), were quite possible constructs, but acted as highly useful tools for spotting opening traps. Among his games/constructions were the first smothered mate:

NN vs Greco 1620

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.Re1 O-O 6.c3 Qe7 7.d4 exd4 8.e5 Ng4 9.cxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Qh4 11.Nf3 Qxf2+ 12.Kh1 Qg1+ 13.Nxg1 Nf2# 0-1

and this stunning queen sacrifice :

Greco vs NN 1619

1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 f5 4.exf5 Bxg2 5.Qh5+ g6 6.fxg6 Nf6 7.gxh7 Nxh5 8.Bg6# 1-0

Greco paved the way for many of the attacking legends of the Romantic era, such as Paul Morphy and François Philidor.