Winning Chess Endings [Paperback]

Yasser Seirawan (Author)

Book Description

Series: Winning Chess | Publication Date: October 1, 1999

"Winning Chess Endings" is a gripping introduction to the moves, strategies, and philosophy of chess endings from one of the world's top-rated players, American grandmaster Yasser Seirawan. Blessed with peerless story-telling skills and the technical knowledge to describe exactly when winning positions occurred in famous matches, he is the perfect guide for readers of all levels who want to identify winning game positions and actively participate in the book. With his convivial writing style and expert teaching methods, he helps readers develop a solid understanding of endgame principles they can apply to every game they play. This title includes tests throughout with answers at the end.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Approach every endgame with a winning strategy!
Good books about endgames for beginners are few and far between. Winning Chess Endings is a great one - a gripping introduction to what you need to know to win chess endings, taught by American Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan. His entertaining, easy-to-understand style, incisive stories and insiders advice will help you develop a solid grasp of proven principles that you can apply with confidence whenever a game goes the distance. You'll learn to prevail time and again in endgames with common and uncommon combinations and pieces.
Winning Chess Endings explains how to: relentlessly find checkmates, from easy to hard, in all basic endgame patterns; master the intricacies of King and Pawn Endings; win consistently in the most common endgame - the Rook ending; master the pros and cons of Bishop vs. Knight Endgames; seize the advantage in Rook Pawn and Queen Pawn endings; play like a grandmaster in solitaire endings
Winning Chess Endings teaches endgame strategies in an exciting new way - by putting you in the middle of the action with firsthand stories taken directly from famous matches. Pull up a chair and watch the world's most exciting chess endings. Then become an endgame master!

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Yasser Seirawan is the highest-rated American chess professional on the Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE) rating ladder and the first American to vie for the World Championship title since Bobby Fischer. He is a three-time U.S Champion, the 1989 Western Hemisphere Champion and an eight-time member of the U.S chess Olympiad team. Currently one of the worlds top-ranked chess players, he is one of only a handful of players to have defeated world champions Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov in tournament play.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735607915
• ISBN-13: 978-0735607910
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,455,255 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At the knee of the Master ...., September 18, 2000

By 

A.J. Goldsby I "A.J.G." (Pensacola, FL (U.S.A.)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winning Chess Endings (Paperback)

Quite simply, the absolutely best endgame book on the market today.

ALL my students love it.

I used to teach primarily out of "Pandolfini's Endgame Course." (This is an excellent book, and actually has much more overall material than the Seirawan book.) But this book is better. There is a lot more verbiage and explanations. GM Seirawan takes great pains to explain the moves and the GENERAL IDEAS of the ending you are trying to learn. Its almost as good as if you walked up to the GM, sat down by his knee and said, "Master, teach me everything I need to know to play the endings competently and well."

The Microsoft Press people have one of the finest teams of editors, proofreaders, etc. They have put together one of the best Chess Book series I have ever seen. I can heartily recommend the entire series.

I am sure if you buy this book and study it diligently, your understanding of the end phase of the game will increase 1000%!

(One minor note: The GM does a little bit of showing off in this book. Example: The ending where he has to calculate the win over 20 moves in advance is over the head of the average IM!! But I think you should expect a little of that from a player of Seirawan's capability. Remember, he was one of the country's strongest Master's well before he was out of his teens. He has won or tied for the U.S. Championship several times. He has been a Candidate for the World Championship and has won 1st Place at many International tournaments. So its not suprising to see a little chest thumping going on.)

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, enjoyable book on the endgame., December 8, 2003

By 

C. Dunn "independent thinker" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winning Chess Endings (Winning Chess - Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

This book does not replace an endgame manual, not even at the beginner level. You could, for example, read Pandolfini's Endgame Course in its entirety and still get some value from this book. It is not complete.

It is simply fun. Seirawan explains the ideas in words. He throws in anecdotes, tension, and humor. He goes over some of the basics in excruciating detail (for example, King+Bishop+Knight v. King, which is extremely rare in practice). He includes complete master-level endings so that you can see how it's done. His discussion of rook endings (extremely common in practice) is helpful. He finishes with a very interesting chapter on the difference between grandmaster play and the theoretically perfect moves in computer generated tablebases.

Another enthralling re-print in the Winning Chess series. Most appropriate to about 1300 level, even with no prior endgame knowledge.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Decent endings book, July 29, 2002

By 

Brian E. Mitchell (Dunwoody, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winning Chess Endings (Paperback)

I'm around a 1400 player, and I found this book to be useful, for the most part (although I *still* have trouble with kbn-k!), as it will give you the ideas behind many endings. Yasser takes a building block approach, and constantly builds upon prior knowledge in a very effective way.

This is, by far, the best endgame book I own.