Dr. Alessandro Salvio, one of the leading Neapolitan players from 1595 onwards, wrote three works on chess, of which this is the first, containing chapters on openings, games at odds and giochi di partiti or problems, some supplied from actual play (see illustration). According to Murray (p.825), there are no known copies of his second work, La Scacciade (Naples, 1612 and 1618), a chess tragedy.