68 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but not "Complete," and more emphasis on "Beginner" than "Master", September 11, 2008
This review is from: Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner To Master (Paperback)
I'm a 1900+ USCF Player. I've had this book for awhile and have finally decided to review it. To begin with, I'll say that I feel this book tries to "dumb-down" too many things, and that turned me off initially. I don't love super-complex stuff either--I have DVORETSKY'S ENDGAME MANUAL but it's a bit too "heavy" for my liking.
SILMAN'S COMPLETE ENDGAME COURSE is a GOOD book. Why it's so huge I don't know, considering that for its size it doesn't cover that much...but that's a different issue.
Silman comes up with seemingly a good idea of separating endgame knowledge into rating level. I basically agree with his choice of material in Part One (Unrated-999), Part Two (1000-1199), and Part Three (1200-1399). He presents this material very well, and I could recommend those parts to my students without reservation.
In the future parts I tend to disagree with the author's choice of what chapter certain topics are located in, but Silman anticipates this in his Preface. Taking the book as a whole, I believe that the most important stuff IS covered, somewhere. My advice for, say, a 1600 player, would be to go through everyhing (with the possible exception of the "Master" chapter) in order to ensure that 1600 player gets what they should get out of the book.
A big problem I have with this book is that once the author reaches Class C and Class B there should be, in my opinion, more examples with "many pawns." I just don't think Silman provides enough "complex" examples. He does the basics extremely well, but I wouldn't dare tell anyone 1800-2200 "this book is all you need for the endgame." Maybe it's true, but I doubt it.
This has made me want to do a Listmania! of endgame materials to study, but a couple of the materials I'd recommend are not on Amazon!
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Recommendations for those beyond Part Three of Silman's book:
THEORY AND PRACTICE OF CHESS ENDINGS by Convekta
-This CD is the best-kept secret EVER on endgame learning. Everybody needs to have this. Grandmasters would do well to review parts of it. The material was created by GM Alexander Panchenko who ran a chess school in the Soviet Union in the '80s that produced over 30 GMs/WGMs. I have never learned so much about the endgame (in two weeks!) as I did with this CD. The CD teaches you how to play EVERY kind of endgame imaginable. All of the PLANS are explained. Not only that, it contains 50+ brilliant examples of "Multi-piece Endings." It's a travesty more chessplayers don't know about this work.
A CHESS LIBRARY FOR PRACTICAL PLAYERS: THE ENDGAME by GM Marat Makarov
-Another work not on Amazon, sadly. You'll have to get it from Chess-Stars (the little-known Bulgarian publishing company that produces the highest quality of chess books for SERIOUS players). Makarov doesn't cover the basic mates, but everything after that, and quite a number of advanced topics! The material is presented briefly, but the emphasis is on PRACTICAL positions/techniques/setting problems for the opponent. A motivated 1200 player could begin working with this book, and the examples are so well-chosen a 2300 could benefit.
ESSENTIAL CHESS ENDINGS by GM James Howell
-Check out my review on Amazon.
ENDGAME STRATEGY by IM Mikhail Shereshevsky
-I will review this on Amazon shortly.
ENDGAME VIRTUOSO by GM Vasily Smyslov
-Check out my review on Amazon.
CHESS SCHOOL 4: THE MANUAL OF CHESS ENDINGS by GM Sarhan Guliev
-I will review this on Amazon shortly.
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115 of 120 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Masterpiece, February 19, 2007
This review is from: Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner To Master (Paperback)
The review written on February 7th, 2007 covers many of the points I would have raised. Rather than repeat all of them, I will take a different tack.
Most chess players of intermediate level or lower don't study endgame books. They'd rather study an opening book, because you can usually see your new opening ideas come to fruition in a short period of time.
However, even if a player wished to study an endgame book, the choices were not appealing. Many endgame books were not user-friendly.
Silman has rectified that with this book. He has divided the book into various sections, based on the playing level of the reader. More advanced readers will read most of the book; beginners need only read the opening chapter. As your play improves, you consult the next section of the book to see what additional lessons you must master. Indeed, you must thoroughly assimilate all of the material in each section before going on to the next section.
A special note for chess teachers, and those who wish to have lessons from chess teachers: I have used the general content of the first three sections of this book as the basis of my lessons with students for many years. (Unlike Silman, I didn't write it down in book form.) So, buying this book is a good substitute for instruction from a teacher.
The book has too much white space, in my opinion, and has an 'airy' feel to it. The words and diagrams are not crowded on the page. This was done, on purpose I think, so that the reader would not feel 'constricted' while reading this book. Indeed, the white space allows the reader to write comments on the page.
In conclusion: This is the greatest chess instruction book that I have seen in the last 20 years.
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34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Give me simple every time..., July 12, 2007
This review is from: Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner To Master (Paperback)
"SILMAN'S COMPLETE ENDGAME COURSE:From Beginner to Master" By IM Jeremy Silman --
Noted chess author, International Master Jeremy Silman has written one of the best endgame books to date. It is a "Complete Endgame Course" and is written in a very easy to learn and student friendly format. But this is not what makes this book fascinating and unique. Instead of giving you an encyclopedia of all possible endgames, this book is sectioned by rating and player strength, and it's so very easy to read with no long and tedious paragraphs.
In this book are great bullet pencils and Summing Ups (to ensure you don't miss the important points), Tests and Solutions (you have to practice what you learn), and inserted note placards (reminders of basic chess principles and even chess tips) throughout the book as needed. The diagrams are also effectively used and wonderfully simplistic (in case you are more visually oriented).
I especially enjoyed learning from the note placards and Summing Ups... as an amateur chess player who doesn't have much time to study--or rather doesn't make much time to study, I've had more, "Wow, I didn't know that!", in this book that any other chess book I've tried to read. Note the `I've tried to read'. I haven't finished this book, because I'm not supposed to until I've mastered each section of endgame material. I love that. Then I need to learn, or re-learn in my case, other chess basics to be balanced. So far, so good. IM Silman brings up the point of information `overkill'... or for my amateur chess brain--`over Fill!' Give me simple every time... which Silman does very effectively in this great endgame book.
I definitely give this book 5 stars for beginners to masters for endgame study!
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