Basic Endgame Strategy: Queens & Rooks (Road to Chess Mastery) [Paperback]

Bill Robertie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1998

A guide to endgame strategy which shows the basic checkmating principles and combinations needed to finish off opponents. Players learn how to translate middlegame advantages into victories, how to use the king as a weapon, clear the way for rook mates and recognize tactical combinations.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Cardoza; 1st edition (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940685892
• ISBN-13: 978-0940685895
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,698,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bill Robertie
(Poker, Backgammon, Chess)

When Bill Robertie started playing chess as a boy, he could have had no idea that his single-minded focus on that game would eventually lead to significant world-wide achievements in 3 games - chess, backgammon and poker.

As a young man, Robertie played chess for Arlington High School (where he met fellow Metropolitan league player from Christopher Columbus High School, Dan Harrington). Robertie was the captain of his chess team for 3 years at Harvard College. He won the U.S. Speed Chess Championship and tied for First in the Golden Knights, the U.S. postal chess championship. He also gave simultaneous blind-fold exhibitions on 8 boards. A lifelong devotee of the game, Bill Robertie has written extensively on chess (Master Checkmate Strategy; Easy Endgame Strategies) and is a chess book collector with a complete set of "Chess Life" going back to 1932, missing only 1991 and 1992, for which he is actively searching.

In 1976, Robertie switched to backgammon, where his years of studying and playing chess served him especially well. Robertie very quickly became a world-class backgammon player - winning multiple tournaments including the Monte Carlo World Backgammon Championship twice, the Boston Black & White tournament, the Bahamas Pro-Am and the Istanbul World Cup. He is the author of 10 classic, best-selling backgammon books including Modern Backgammon, Advanced Backgammon V1, Advanced Backgammon V2 and 501 Essential Backgammon Problems.

In 2003, Robertie's remarkable game career took another important turn when he & Dan Harrington (now a poker player and World Series of Poker champion) co-authored their first poker book, Harrington on Hold'em/Strategic Play (published by Mason Malmuth's 2+2 Publishing). The first poker book that was written clearly so that players could easily get a sense of the true nuances of the game, Harrington on Hold'em/Strategic Play quickly became an instant classic, changing poker playing overnight and becoming a must-read for serious students of the game. They followed it up with Harrington on Hold'em/The Endgame, Harrington on Hold'em/The Workbook, Harrington on Cash Games V1 and Harrington on Cash Games V2, with other "Harrington" series books in the works.

Today, Bill Robertie still writes extensively on backgammon and poker. He moderates the Backgammon Forum at http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com. He also travels to backgammon and poker tournaments world-wide, and offers backgammon coaching (in person in Boston and New York City and via phone and special in-person arrangements world-wide). Details at thegammonpress.com.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Like Alburt stuff; good, but you know there's better., March 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Basic Endgame Strategy: Queens & Rooks (Road to Chess Mastery) (Paperback)

Cardoza is the "McDonalds" of chess publishing. And like McDonald's there is something appealing about it, even when you know there is much better food out there. This book is like a Lev Alburt book in that it is a "page turner"; that is, you will go through one example and realize you ave finished 10 pages. This is a good feeling if you are sometimes frustrated by spending a week on one page of Dvoretsky. And Robertie is concerned about giving you useful practical advice. This is a good book, because the topic fits the bill: for endings, most of us want to remember a few vivid examples to get the idea. This book accomplishes its goal pretty nicely.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Short and sweet., March 27, 2007

By 

Peacewar - See all my reviews

This review is from: Basic Endgame Strategy: Queens & Rooks (Road to Chess Mastery) (Paperback)

The book is very brief. The fist example basic, but the other examples are moderate to very good especially the queen examples (first 80 pages). I only paid $2 plus $3.49 S&H. If you dislike notation and like explanation, this is the book for you. It uses paragraph style of writing explaining every little move, thus very few examples, but covers the title "queens and rooks" well. I'm uscf 1600 and think this is a good book for anyone 1700 or below. Its very reader friendly so even beginners should be able to follow along. I however would not pay more than $7 for this book total only because of its size not because of its content. Its 138 pages and can be read through very quickly. Based on the price I paid I would have given it 5 stars, the games on queens and pawns,, and,,, two rooks vs queen with pawns on the board was worth the $5.50 total I paid. which are covered in pages 80-138, other than the rooks and pawns pages, the other 80 pages are probably something you would find in a more complete endgame chess book. Such as, another endgame book I bought "improve your endgame play" Glenn Flear is more bang for the buck which has just as many or more queens and pawns endings and rooks and pawns endings, but with much less text explaining and doesn't have two rooks & pawns vs queen & pawns section. Rooks and Queens are common to be the last pieces on the board, so this book should quickly cover and improve your game. I'm sure there are better books out there, but not at this price. I'm guessing a good read for 1200-1600 USCF, and even lower rated due to its easy read.

7 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Book!!!, August 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Basic Endgame Strategy: Queens & Rooks (Road to Chess Mastery) (Paperback)

This Book has helped me get better at chess in so many ways! I cant beleive it. BUY THIS BOOK!!! its worth it.