Customer Reviews

Basic Chess Endings

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have received literally dozens of requests to review this book.

I have owned this book for close to (or over) a year, I wanted to spend a little time looking at it, it is a huge volume - there is much material here to ponder and analyze. At over 600 pages, I don't think that the word, "massive" is out of place.

Before you go any further ... if you are seriously considering purchasing this book ... you definitely should go to IM J. Silman's web site and read IM Anthony Saidy's book review. It is detailed, thorough, and very comprehensive.

Here is my two cents worth, and I will try to be as brief as possible.

GM R. Fine wrote the original book in about 4-6 months, the world's endgame experts did not believe that this feat could be accomplished in ten years!!! (A truly Herculean feat - by one of the greatest American players and writers, ever!) Fine managed this trick without computers, databases, etc. Naturally many errors were eventually discovered.

Benko and Hochberg took it upon themselves to update this work; it was sadly in need of a revision. Not only to correct all the mistakes, but to change the book to from the old - now completely outdated E.S.D.N. - to the more modern algebraic notation.

I agree with Saidy, this work is a step in the right direction ... but - - -
A few of my complaints are:
1. I found dozens of errors, despite the fact that the authors promised us a book that was meticulously checked by computers and the great Pal Benko. (My current volume already has dozens of corrections and notes in the margins, and about 50-to-75 bookmarks for places that I want to go back and analyze even further - sometime in the future.)
2. Many times, important endgames from the period since this book was originally written, (post-1941); have been completely ignored.
3. Many basic reference works, like "The Encyclopedia of Chess Endings," (by the same guys who print the INFORMANTS); were obviously not even consulted; many endings could have been updated or corrected simply by a careful review of these books.
4. Many endgames have 'dual' solutions. These have been completely ignored.
5. The current authors did not attempt to explain the basic ideas of many of the newer examples that were added, Fine often went to great lengths to do this.
6. Benko's additions/replacements of his own bizarre problems often set my teeth on edge. Fine's original volume only had positions that were VERY practical or were culled from actual games. Benko's weird additions look out of place in this book; I much prefer many of the original positions - even with their many mistakes.

Having said all this, you might think I hated this book, but I don't. I give it four stars and a HIGH recommendation. ANY player who considers themselves a serious student of the game - regardless of their rating - must purchase this book. ALL correspondence players will find this volume a true God-send when trying to analyze or learn a difficult ending.

Let us just hope that the next set of authors that take a whack at this - start from scratch ... and are capable of using a computer and have the necessary reference books on hand. This book is good, and a tremendous work ... but falls far short of being great or the type of work that it aspired to be ... or even should have been!

This book is NOT a learning tool. It is for more experienced players with a need to refer to certain endgame positions. Players new to endgame study should AVOID this tome. I wish I had. When I was just an 1800 USCF player, I had access only to this dry, pedantic, boring, dictionary and hated endgame study for years after. I am rated 2300 USCF now, and I wouldn't wish my worst enemy use this book for improvement purposes. Unless, you really want to learn endgames the hard way. buy something else

Reuben Fine was a brilliant GM, but his book, Basic Chess Endings, is not basic. For someone of average tournament strength (USCF 1450) or below, this book serves only as a reference book. In that regard, Basic Chess Endings is impressive, but of extremely limited value.

Beginners through average tournament grade are better off investing time in a more fundamental text, of which there are many. Lev Alburt's, Just the Facts, appears to be more appropriate for the vast majority of chess players. Scott gru-Bell USCF ID#12738508.

Fine's Basic Chess Endings was a landmark achievement. It is hard for those living in the computer age to appreciate what a monumental achievement this book was. One world caliber grandmaster collected the best analysis of endings available 60 years ago in one handbook. For many years, it was the only real comprehensive source for the ending. Almost immediately, analysts found flaws in Fine's analysis. Averbakh and the Informant team took five volumes to update Fine's work.

With the advent of computers, our understanding is much greater. We now have better tools for the ending and more accurate books, such as Fundamental Chess Endings by Muller and Lamprecht. So, Basic Chess Endings is now museum piece.

The classic English language endgame book. Contains analysis of nearly all of the important simple endgames and a good representation of more advanced ones. Essential for anyone aspiring to be an advanced player (USCF rating >1800). However there are some analyses which have later been shown to be incorrect. When in doubt, run a position through your computer to confirm.

I haven't read any book as comprehensive as this one. This book contains the necessary endgame techniques a player must learn in order to win after 40 moves of play. There are also many instructive endgame positions in this book which a player may benefit from. Highly recommended.

First let me state that I was NOT planning to write a review until I read some of the other reviews. (Some of them are very misleading).

This book is a fantastic reference book covering virtually any major ending situation that you would likely come accross in actual play. It is NOT a textbook - although it could be used to learn basic endings, there are many better books to fill this gap.

This book is probably most useful (as a reference work) for more advanced players (say 1500 - 1600 USCF & up) who have likely already studied other endgame manuals.

This book would probably also be useful for a post-mortem (analyzing a game after the fact) to determine where a particular player went astray.

It is well organized, good diagrams, good binding, etc. It has also been converted to algebraic notation (which was a drawback to the older editions).

Some of the earier reviews were most likely referring to the older editions of the book.

Hey, for 25 bucks you would be hard pressed to find anything better!

This is a great but also a difficult book. Because it deals with a very complex subject, moreover is not an approachable text for chess newbies, therefore I should not award it more than four stars-- it's not for all!
Yet this great marvel ought to be on the book shelf of any chess master! For having so many hundreds of pages of clear (and dry) examples in this book ; this has stood the test of time. Now it is revised, in-print and in the newer algebraic notation format. The couple of dozen errors which were unknowable to anyone before computer analysis of endgames was available have been ammended by Grandmaster Pal Benko.
Honestly I can think of easier endgame books, like Auerbach's 5 volume set (now available on a cd-rom by Convekta-dot-com a russian publishing house) or certainly the are simpler rook ending books such as Emm's work and simpler pawn-ending books like Fishbein's work. but Reuben Fine-- the greatest US contender for the world chess championship before RJ Fischer--the man Botvinnik (and the soviet system of chess) most worried about before he gave up chess for medicine-- knew his stuff better than the rest.
Don't ever try to read this kind of book straight on. Look at your own chess games. Look at the type of endings which you are playing right now. Then study those ending-types in Fine's taxonomy of endings via the book index. This method will make you fearless of the ending. You will more willing to play strategic chess with complex endings instead of rock'em sock'em blitz. You will enjoy longer time-controls. This kind of book can change a young man's chess game alot. But you have to put the work into this book to get that. So it's not for all players.

I don't have the citation on me, but legend has it that Bobby Fischer used this book as in effect his endgame bible--his copy was notoriously tattered, worn, and dog-eared.

The introduction by Yuri Averbakh is of note as Averbakh is the reigning Russian endgame god.

A book review at ChessCafe noted: "When it comes to the explanation of pure endgame theory, there may never have been a better book than Reuben Fine's Basic Chess Endings."

International master John Watson, describes Basic Chess Endings as "a tour de force and still highly relevant to endgame theory in its revised form by Pal Benko."

International master Anthony Saidy's review contains somewhat humorous stories from an older generation who deemed the book infallible, and were heartbroken by discovering occasional errors in the midst of master-level games. Nonetheless Saidy concludes: "To sum up, this is an improved BCE, at last mercifully corrected...Benko's work has improved the bible, but it is still basically the bible of 1941. BCE in its panorama of all endgames, remains in a class by itself. But a truly new BCE, incorporating the wealth of experience of the past six decades, including computer studies, it is not." So: "in a class by itself", but unlike a true bible, still not infallible.

The British Chess Magazine review runs: "Fine's monumental endgame manual scarcely needs an introduction as it will be on the bookshelves of most keen players. This is a recent revision by Grandmaster Pal Benko, with a foreword by Averbakh. The 2003 revision has been a matter of correcting mistakes, converting to algebraic notation and using more modern examples of endgames in a few cases where endgame theory has moved on. Fine's 15 rules for the endgame have been increased to 20 by Benko. Still a classic work, and now it has been enhanced with input from another very distinguished endgame expert. There are now other excellent works on the endgame but even after many decades this one still stands comparison with them."

A chess blogger writes that "Predrag, my chess coach on ICC has been successful in convincing me to study endgames and I am convinced that endgames are the most difficult part of the game. It also appears to hold the key to strong play - not only because of the chance to win games but because the chance to develop awesome calculative skills acquired are just too great to be ignored. I tried using some software packages, Bruce Pandolfini's endgame book and Larry Evans book, but they just don't seem to be the problem set I need to use - either too hard or they simply don't have illustrative sets I can practice. I ordered Basic Chess Endings by Rueben Fine and edited by Benko. It was recommended by Predrag." This is Predrag Trajkovic, an international master who gives lessons through ICC (the Internet Chess Club).

Overall it is a good book for studying endgames. It gives general rules extracted from concrete examples. In general, they are useful guidelines. Bear in mind, however, that these rules did not always apply.

I have analyzed in depth the endgame Steinitz-Gunsberg (9th match game for the world title, 1890), No. 723, pages 343-344. Despite the revision by Grandmaster Pal Benko the analysis has a serious error and omission. It is evaluated as a win for black, when it is, in fact, a draw. If 3.Kh6 g5 the text only mentions the losing 4.hxg5?. Instead 4. Ra3! draws. The correct analysis and evaluation of this endgame (attributed to I. Zaitsev)appeared on page 11 of the revised german edition of the Levenfish and Smyslov work on rook endgames (Schachverlag Rudi Schmaus, Heidelberg 1985). Besides, I have discovered that 4. Ra8! also draws. However this error and omission is forgivable because Ra3! or Ra8! are extremely unobvious moves and the (rare) german edition of Levenfish's and Smyslovs's work is probably the only one with updated analysis.

It would be of interest for the users of this book if the publisher and reviser would maintain a webpage with updated analysis like the previous one. In this case the book would deserve 5 stars.