Chess Endings Essential Knowledge Pdf
Karola
Hi I want to learn chess endings I am beginner. In my language 4 chess endings book are translated but I don't know which is best for me? 1- Understanding Chess Endgames 2-
Chess Endgames for Kids [Karsten Muller] 3- Seirewan Chess Endings 4- Yuri Averbach chess ending book. Which is first book for read and learn chess endings
Averbach's book is great, and it's really neat that he is still around, the only surviving player from the famous 1953 Zurich tournament. But to be honest, any of those books will greatly increase your endgame skill if you really read it and go over all the examples. And no book will help if you don't
It depends on your level. For intermidiate players I think there are a lot great books, such as "100 endgames you must know" (althought I find it a bit advanced) and "Essential chess endings: The tournament's player's guide"
Guess Shereshevsky's Mastering the Endgame is out. $450 for a 2 volume set is a bit out of my price range. To be fair though you can pick up the set used for less than $100. Maybe I should finish Silman first...
Well, as a bit of history, I have a paperback copy of Reubin Fine's Basic Chess Endingscopyright 1941 and called by Botvinnik "...the definitive work on the endgame." I'm not sure I'd call it the best, but not much has changed in endgame theory. Encyclopedic.
Another vote for Silman. I suppose it couldn't be considered 'best' because it covers fewer endagmes than the others, but in terms of organization and writing style I really like it. And, if anyone under 2200 actually remembers/understands how to play all the endgames covered in that book then he'd be in pretty good shape.
By concentrating on the basic principles the average player is not only given a working knowledge of the endgame but also a firm foundation on which to further develop his or her interest and technique in this fascinating stage of a chess game.
The author, a Russian Grandmaster and endgame expert, takes the reader from the most elementary checkmates, through the exploitation of positional and material advantage, right up to the analysis of actual endings from master play.
Basic Chess Endings (abbreviated BCE) is a book on chess endgames which was written by Grandmaster Reuben Fine and originally published on October 27, 1941. It is considered the first systematic book in English on the endgame phase of the game of chess. It is the best-known endgame book in English and is a classic piece of chess endgame literature. The book is dedicated to World Champion Emanuel Lasker, who died in 1941 (the year the book was published). It was revised in 2003 by Pal Benko.
Basic Chess Endings was written by Reuben Fine in only four months and was published in 1941 by McKay (a division of Random House) in hardback. The book used the now obsolete descriptive chess notation and used the old system of using the abbreviation "Kt" to stand for knight instead of the more modern "N". In 1944 Chess Review received many letters debating the change from Kt to N.[2]
In a 1984 interview, Fine said that it took him three months to write the book. He said that organizing the material gave him no trouble, but it was hard work coming up with example positions. He created many of the examples.[3] There was a Hardback Limited Edition of 500 signed By Reuben Fine sold by USCF in the 1940s. The hardback edition was reprinted at least as late as 1960. The copyright was renewed in 1969 as the book went through many paperback impressions. The cover of the 1971 paperback printing is shown at the right. It went through ten printings in paperback by 1981.
Over the years, many errors were found, and many of them were published in Chess Life in the column by Larry Evans.[4] Over one hundred such errors were found and a mimeographed list of them was printed and circulated by Paul L. Crane and Rev. David Chew. An 18-page booklet containing over 200 corrections was published by Samuel Louie in 1990 and 1993. Despite these errors, the book remained in print in its original form. After many years, editor Burt Hochberg finally convinced the publisher to create a new edition. Endgame expert Pal Benko, whose own copy of the book contained hand-written notes of almost all of the errors, did the revision. The revised edition was published in 2003, but only in paperback. Benko converted it to the now universally-accepted algebraic chess notation. He also added some new material based on more recent analysis and added many new examples. He made many corrections, but a few errors remain. For example, Benko repeats Fine's claim that the endgame of two bishops and a knight against a rook is drawn with correct play.[5][6] In fact, endgame tablebases show that the three minor pieces win.[7] Howard Staunton, without the aid of computer analysis, had recognized this over 150 years earlier.[8] Bernhard Horwitz and Josef Kling gave the same appraisal in 1851.[9]
The original book contains 573 pages and 607 diagrams of positions. Many other positions were given by listing the location of the pieces rather than showing a diagram. The 2003 revision contains 587 pages with 1330 positions, most with diagrams.
Larry Evans listed it in his "basic chess library" and said that it was "distinguished by lucidity and keen organization".[10] Copies of the book are owned by many generations of chess players around the world. World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik considered it the best book on the endgame. Yuri Averbakh (who wrote the five-volume Comprehensive Chess Endings and Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge) based his research on this book.
"This is a classic book... The quality of the general explanations is excellent and probably has never been surpassed. ... Fine is at his best when he gives general descriptions and the book has been rightly praised for its instructional value. ... However, there are many errors in the concrete analysis of positions. ... The quality of the general explanations compensates for the errors and makes it well worth reading. ... The only exception is the chapter on queen endings, which has advanced greatly since 1941, and much of the material is seriously misleading."
On Benko's revision, "A chance to bring this classic up to date was squandered. ... The layout has been improved, but still many positions are without diagrams and some positions have been removed. ... There is a small amount of new material, but it is mostly from Benko's games and studies, and some of the new material has been added clumsily. ... The chapter on queen endings has not been changed to reflect the discoveries since 1941. ... The greatest disappointment is the failure to correct many of the errors in the original book, some of which are well-known. ... No systematic computer-checking of the analysis was done. ... Some (out of around 900 mistakes[12]) errors have been corrected but many remain. ... Despite this, the book is recommended for Fine's groundbreaking general explanations, but it is not completely accurate or up-to-date".[13]
Jesus de la Villa's book comes highly-recommended by a coach (a Russian IM) whom I approached about this question. It is refreshingly focused on making your study time as productive (in terms of decisive game results) as possible.
My own assessment of Silman's material is that while it has rich instructive content, I find the style of presentation (cynical, demeaning of the players at times) unappealing. It also lacks focus at times.
If you haven't made a purchase yet, for more depth I'd invite you to consider Starting Out: Pawn Endgames, Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames and Starting Out: Rook Endgames by Everyman Publishing. All are available in a Kindle edition at Amazon for about $10. Used paperback copies are very reasonably priced as well. I believe the Rook book is still in publication, but Everyman doesn't seem to be selling the other two anymore.
If you want to limit yourself to just one book, then I would also encourage you to check out James Howell's Essential Chess Endings. Howell is a chess coach who was frustrated with the unsuitability of the available endgame manuals for teaching aspiring tournament players. His book is readable, uses actual games, and emphasizes strategic themes for each type of endgame. Enjoyable and effective. It's (sadly) only available at a reasonable price as a Kindle book on Amazon (the used copies are a goldmine, apparently).
Since you are a 1400, Silman's book is the way to go. His book will give you the solid endgame foundation that you need. Only once you read his book up to "Endgames for Class A" should you get the other book.
I prefer de la Villa's book. It has a very practical approach, has an affordable extension (100 endings, 200 pages in its Spanish version) and focuses on the most common endings and on understanding them rather than learning lines/positions by heart.
In Review Column #26, I reviewed 16 books on the endgame, and inReview Column #65, I talked about 10 more endgame books. One of the themes ofthe first batch was that a majority of the books claimed to have an approachdifferent from the others, usually a simpler and more comprehensible one thatwas held to contrast with the usual dry recitations of variations that theother endgame books delivered. That claim persists in endgame books to thisday. Oddly enough, I don't recall seeing more than one or two of these maligned'other' endgame books, with their tedious listings, for 30 years or so! Infact, the only one that instantly comes to mind is Reuben Fine's Basic ChessEndings, a book that people fall all over themselves praising! So you mightwant to take those claims with a grain of salt.
The first thing that I say to my students about endgame books (andCDs) is that before rushing out to get the latest bundle, they should firstconsider reading the ones (or one) that they already have. As I've mentionedbefore, players tend to fall in love with their first endgame book once theyactually sit down and read it. I think that's because endgame material tends tobe logical, absorbing and elegant in its own way. Furthermore, the standardexamples that are normally considered essential and practical are roughly thesame from book to book.
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