Author Flear describes in his introduction how he wishes to take a different approach, stressing endgame variants that arise often in practice but generally aren't covered in endgame textbooks. In this, he has succeeded. He has compiled statistics on types of endgames and then concentrates, at least somewhat, on the ones that are more important in terms of likelihood of occurrence. Not at all a bad idea, as so many books want to be theoretically complete and spend many pages on endgames likely to be seen once or twice, if ever, in a chessplayer's career.
Flear coins a new term: "Not Quite an Endgame" or "NQE" or, as he puts it, "nuckie." What is an NQE? He defines it rather unclearly as a position with more pieces than an endgame but no more than two per side (not counting pawns). This not so helpful definition is fairly carefully followed in the book, as two per side situations make up nearly the whole content of the text.
What he does do is consider a whole raft of situations that, while statistically probable, aren't necessary treated in an organized manner in other books. This includes things like an exchange advantage with two rooks vs. a rook and a minor piece. Indeed this is "not quite" an endgame but how many times have you seen it in real play? Most likely very often indeed! Rook and minor piece endings are covered thoroughly, such as Rook and Bishop vs. Rook and Knight (and all the other combinations as well), again something seen all the time in practical play.
I especially like the extended section on "Asymmetric Struggles" which considers such things as Rook vs. two minor pieces. Practical? You bet!
The book is a real heavyweight, weighing in at over 500 pages. It has a useful table of contents, a not very useful index of players (and, in typical Everyman Chess style, no other indexes at all), and an attractive and readable layout with typically two or more very clear board diagrams per page. The list price is high enough, but you can get the book for just over half that price if you shop carefully.
The key question, of course, is: should you buy this book? Certainly, if you were to have only one or two endgame books in your library, this wouldn't be one of them. (Silman's Complete Endgame Course would be better by far, and Pandolfini's Endgame Course would be a better choice as well.) However, I might say that if you have those other books, maybe this one would fit in as a third choice, just before you go in for a heavy-duty textbook such as Fine or one of the others. Flear's book is above all practical. After you learn the real basics in one of the "Course" books, you might go in for this very large serving of real-life situations. Only then might you want to learn everything there is to know about endgame theory, even if you might never use it.
Bottom line: a good book, perhaps even an excellent book, but not a "must-buy."
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Top reviews from other countries
Ralf James MacGrady
Secret Sauce For Endgame Mastery!
Reviewed in Canada on February 28, 2017
