Customer Reviews

Fundamental Chess Endings

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Content:
This is a very thick (416 pages) and large book that combines all major types of endgames in one single volume. While at the heart of this book is a vast number of endgame positions classified by piece presents annotated in great detail, you will also find a lot of general terminology explained, many brief comments inserted in the analysis that help understand the general principles, thinking approach and other practical issues. After each chapter, you can practice several exercises.

Quality:
I dislike the use of softcover for such a thick and large book, I doubt it will hold up for a long. This is a shame, since, otherwise, this is a perfect edition. Nice clear diagrams, easy indicator whose move it is and what you are expected to do. Also, the text is easy to read and follow. Sometimes, when analysis go for more than 10 moves, having another diagram would really help. On the other hand, you really should use the chess board when studying, so this is not such a big issue. Authors are well known experts in combining endgame analysis on the chess board with the latest computer hardware and software. I have been through several examples and found very detailed analysis, good references to previous publications and timely general comments.

Who will benefit
There are many quality endgames books and software on the market. Whether or not you want to add this not [inexpensive] book to your library is up to you. I believe, that practically everyone above 1800, who is familiar with basic endgame principles and have good calculation skills, will benefit from going through this books. In fact I would suggest the following approach- set up each position on the board (or from the diagram in the book); find out whose move it is; develop plans for both sides; calculate variation as deep as you can; compare your plans and variation with the authors analysis.

Overall
An excellent book for home studying for experienced players who are familiar with basic endgames and have developed good calculation skills. If you still working on developing those, I would suggest - Alburt's "Just the Facts", Averbakh's "Chess Endings Essential Knowledge." For studying on the go, I would suggest Concise Chess Endings by McDonald.

Good luck,
Copyrighted by me

With quickplay finishes requiring most chess games to be finished in one sitting, having proper knowledge of the endgame is even more important. Adjournments for extensive analysis are thus abolished, requiring the player to have this crucial endgame knowledge at his (or her) fingertips. This book will help you attain that goal.

Please read what Grandmaster Lubosh Kavalek had to say (November 25, 2002 Washington Post chess column)

"An endgame book does not often win a prestigious award, but "Fundamental Chess Endings" by Karsten Muller and Frank Lamprecht and issued by Gambit Publications in London, could not have been overlooked by the judges of the British Chess Federation's 2002 Book of the Year Award. The clearly written volume honored by the BCF was conceived as a textbook, divided into 12 chapters with exercises. It has been meticulously checked by computer programs, correcting mistakes and some myths of the past. I wish the book had been around in the '60s, '70s or '80s when players could have learned endgames by adjourning them and consulting such a manual."

I believe we are living in the Golden Age of chess. Many, if not most, of the greatest players of all time are young and active today. While I admit that the above statement is debatable, I am far more certain that we are living in the Golden Age of chess writing. Of course, there's plenty of garbage out there; but if you're looking for good stuff, it's almost as easy to find, thanks in large part to Gambit, the British company that publishes chess books and nothing but chess books.
There are at least four large one-volume encyclopedic works on the endgame: Fine's BASIC CHESS ENDINGS, Keres's PRACTICAL CHESS ENDINGS; Wade, Speelman and Tisdall's BATSFORD CHESS ENDINGS; and now this one. Its three predecessors are excellent works in themselves, but this has a good shot at being generally regarded as the best of them all. Why? Well, it's as well written as the others; it's designed to be read cover-to-cover as a series of lessons or as a reference work, and it's all computer-checked for accuracy. There are sure to be some errors--I hope mostly typographical rather than analytical--but as long as there aren't very many of them, the book should be a great help to anyone wishing to improve his practical results by knowing more about the endgame than his peers. I haven't read the whole book yet, but so far my opinion is that big books on endings don't get any better than this.

This book will certainly make a huge impact in your play. It is absolutely great to be able to trade pieces in the midlegame when you know that the ensuing endgame is won for you and your opponent does the same because he does not see this! It is also very valuable to know certain theoretically drawn positions in order to avoid them when you have the edge, or seek them when you don't.

This book has all that plus a LOT more, you will find every "commonly" reached endgame and a clear explanation (with plenty of variations) on the right way to play it. You should study this book no matter what your level of play is ad you will get a clear edge against your opponents that have not done so!

I'm an unrated amateur just beginning endgame study and I have found this book to be very helpful. In fact it contains the first explanation of the procedure for KBN v. K that I've read that was clear and simple enough to allow me to master this particular endgame. Although Pandolfini's Endgame Course is probably the best endgame book for beginners, it really just gives one position after another in an exercise format; it does not do a very good job of explaining general principles and procedures for you to generalize to your own games. Fundamental Chess Endings fills that hole very nicely. While I admit that it may be a bit heavy to serve as a beginner's only endgame source, it makes a perfect companion to - and greatly enhances my results from - Pandolfini. Between these two books I think I've found an ideal endgame course.

If you are looking for the definitive one-volume endgame manual, this is the book, make no mistake. FCE is sensational. Somehow the authors have achieved the almost super-human feat of writing a monumental reference work that is at the same time instructive and readable. As well as explaining the techniques and principles of thousands of endgames, the authors have even gone to the trouble of inserting numberous tests and puzzles. It is obvious they really care about the reader assimilating the material.
As the project was meticulously checked by computer program, and the typesetter was John Nunn, it is safe to say the quality of analysis and assessments is as close to perfection as is possible. The book belongs in the library of anyone who takes chess seriously.

This book is stunning beyond all words! These guys used endgame tablebases to completely classify all endgame knowledge. Every single thing you could imagine is in this book. Oddly enough, unlike, say, NCO or MCO, it's a very readable encyclopedia. You could get lost in this thing for years. It makes me want to start a whole sub-branch of the ICC where you play nothing but endgames and get an endgame rating. This book is achingly beautiful.

If you have played long enough to get to the endgame with some regularity, get this book. It covers all the basics, giving guidlines and reinforing the fact that caculation always wins out over rules. I found the knight ending particularly tricky, but this book give all the themes neccesary to form a plan. What ? you're only interested in the middle game? Knowing the endgame will help your middle game too, because you will see opprutinties to simplify to a favorable endgame.

I bought his book in the hopes of studying and improving my game in the endgames department. Sadly, this is not what this book is about.

I am not sure how the book will hold up over time, physically. It is a very thick volume with a paperback cover that bends a bit under its own weight on the bookshelf.

The content is a very detailed, almost encyclopaedic, compendium of endgames. I see this book more of a reference for someone who is analysing a game and wants to find a way to conduct a particular endgame, perhaps useful for correspondence games.

For the chess student, there are more educational books on the topic of endgames out there.

Many of the other reviews have argued that Karsten and Muller have created a single-volume endgame book that has all the key points of the endgame.

This may be so, but I have tried to sit down and use it for study only to be disappointed. The material is fairly well organized, but it is too dense to work with. This is the sort of endgame book that gives endgame books a bad name. It is full of information but is dry as dust.

I recommend Dvoretsky's "Endgame Manual" instead for almost all players. That book uses two colors of font to highlight important positions. "Fundamental Chess Endings uses almost the same style as "Basic Chess Endings" (written by Reuben Fine 19 1941) and feels as dusty.

If you have the money and desire, get both books. But you will probably use Dvoretsky's book more.