Secrets of Pawn Endings [Paperback]

Karsten Muller (Author), Frank Lamprecht (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2000

This book provides a thorough grounding to pawn endings, for players of all levels. The authors have included many interesting endgame studies, and test positions for you to solve and test your understanding.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Endgames with just kings and pawns are the most basic type of ending. Without an understanding of them it is impossible to master more complicated endings. This book provides a thorough course in pawn endings, from the simple to the highly complex. Many interesting and beautiful positions are included, and there are test positions for the reader to solve. The authors follow the rigorously logical conventions introduced by John Nunn in his famous series of endgame manuals. This has necessitated a phenomenal amount of new analysis of theoretical positions to assess precisely the merits of each and every move. This is a comprehensive and authoritative guide to the most fundamental type of endgame, including puzzle positions to test the reader's understanding. It makes use of the new computer software specifically geared to solving pawn endings. In addition, it's logically organized in a user-friendly fashion. (5 3/4 x 8 1/4, 288 pages, diagrams)

About the Author

Karsten Müller is a grandmaster from Germany, who competes regularly in the Bundesliga and international events. He finished third in the German Championship in 1996, and was runner-up in 1997. He is a noted authority on both practical and theoretical endgames.
Frank Lamprecht is also from Germany, and is an international master. He has been a chess trainer since 1983.
Müller and Lamprecht won the British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award in 2002 for Fundamental Chess Endings. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857442555
• ISBN-13: 978-1857442557
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #777,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tour de Force, May 5, 2000

By 

A. Ali "Harkonnen" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Secrets of Pawn Endings (Paperback)

This is a comprehensive and eminently readable treatise on pawn endings. The organisation is superb. Chapters titled 'Race of the Passed Pawns' 'Unique features of the Rook's Pawn', 'Fortresses' 'Breakthrough', 'Fight for Tempi and Manouevre', 'Corresponding Squares', 'Thinking Methods to Find the Right Move' (among others) are to be found. These chapter titles themselves attest to the excellence of this treatise. I use the word 'treatise' deliberately; the coverage is comprehensive. The work is a piece of scholarship written with Teutonic thoroughness and accuracy.

This is not to say that there are not other good pawn ending books around. The Averbakh book is quite good, as is the one by Hajenius and van Riemsdijk (The Final Countdown). The book by Fishbein is not a bad effort. But the title being reviewed here beats 'em all. I'd give the Averbakh book 4 stars and the other two 3 stars each. 'Secrets of Pawn Endings' deserves 5.

If you have already studied a basic endgame book and wish to embark on a careful study of pawn endings, this is the book for you

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your Second Endgame Book, June 17, 2002

By 

Wyote (Seoul) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Secrets of Pawn Endings (Paperback)

Unfortunately, explanations of pawn endings tend to be more mystifying than helpful to players of average talent (like me). Even single pawn endgames can seem so puzzling. However, with a little work even average players can understand this book. I suspect it would be helpful to unusually talented and experienced players as well.

I feel that for most player's purposes this book is a little better than Averbach's book, but it's most fun to have them both and compare their explanations. Averbach's book spends far more time on the theory of corresponding squares, while this book is more practical. In short, don't despair if you can't find Averbach's book; this one is very good.

If you've read a basic introduction to the endgame, and want to go deeper, this is the next step. All other endgames constantly threaten to reduce to pawn endgames, so these are fundamental concepts. As it says on the back cover, "Without an understanding of [pawn endings] it is impossible to master more complicated endings." That is absolutely true.

Many players will feel that pawn endgames are boring, but in reality they can be very beautiful. If you learn to enjoy them, then your enjoyment of the entire game of chess will increase.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive Pawn-Ending Book, February 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Secrets of Pawn Endings (Paperback)

This is the only books I found that covers all the basic concepts of pawn endings that are taken for granted in more advanced books. For example, if you've read books like My System, you're probably familiar with pawn breakthroughs. This book shows you how to engineer them.

Secrets of Pawn Endings is not an easy read. But if you want to take your endgame to the next level, you need this book.