Customer Reviews

Mastering the Endgame

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

 

 

This book primarily deals with analysis of examples from grandmaster play, only giving theoretical endings when they illustrate some particular point. The author has quite a bit of text, but some of the variations have a bit of a Fritzy feel to them, and the variations seldom contain textual explanations. The emphasis is on rook endings and minor piece endings. I would have liked to see more explanations of pawn endings and more guiding principles to queen endings.

The reason I only gave this book 3 stars is that I do not feel it is extraordinary. It is competent, but not stellar. Perhaps I would have enjoyed this book more if I did not own many books on the endgame already. Silman's Essential chess endings is hard to beat for the basics. Soltis' Grandmaster secrets is the best source of helpful practical advice in the form of general principles (Here's the best one--don't enter into a K+P endgame unless you're absolutely certain you could win it blindfolded!). Hays' Endgame Challenge is a good self-test guide to basic endings. My favortie endgame book has to be Howell's Essential Chess endings complemented by the massive coverage in Batsford Chess endings. This book reminds me of a book called endgame strategy in that it just explains some of the moves behind complex endings. You should look at it yourself to see if it would be what you are interested in, but it just wasn't the best book for me.