The Italian Game is the front-line of modern chess. After a hundred years of oblivion, in the 21st century, it edged out many other renowned openings, and is employed today by all the world’s top players. Its modern interpretation is full of new ideas, and its theory has grown thanks to the research of modern grandmasters. This book is an attempt to comprehend the current state of this opening. The book, however, is not just a collection of lines of this fashionable opening. Its main idea is to demonstrate the key ideas and typical techniques in various opening positions, with every key idea being highlighted in the text. The manual can thus be used as a strategy textbook in Italian-type positions; it even includes a special section called ‘The Italian Endgame’. A separate chapter is devoted to one the most important problems of modern chess, that is, getting similar positions of the Italian type from other openings. The book should be of interest to players of various strengths.