Specials

Chess endings have an immediacy lacking in chess endgame or chess problems: endings are not theoretical or composed, but actual board positions, the point in every game when the superfluous falls away, leaving only the essential. José Raúl Capablanca (1888–1942) had no need for isolated artistic theory or compositions — he composed and created chess art as he played. All of his genius — intuitive, tactical, strategic, logical — all of his art shines clearest in his endings, as he himself was proud to declare, advising others to study them carefully. "In order to improve your game," he said, "you must study the endgame before anything else; for whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame."

The best way to follow Capablanca's advice is through this — the only book devoted to his great endings, 60 complete games emphasizing the grand finale but annotated throughout.

Irving Chernev communicates in his notes the mystery and wonder as well as the delight in discovering again and again the original, fertile mind of chess's greatest born player. "Virtuoso," "exquisite," "profound," "inspired," "elegant," and "fiendish ingenuity" describe match and tournament games and endings against Alekhine, Steiner, Marshall, Nimzowitsch, Lasker, Réti, and others, the best in the contemporary chess world. Capablanca's eleventh game in the 1901 Cuban championship (which he won, aged 12) "surpasses any accomplishment by such other prodigies as Morphy, Reshevsky, and Fischer." From age 12 through the last game in the book (nearly four decades later against Reshevsky at Nottingham, 1936), Capablanca fashions endgames in tense tournament atmosphere that seem like delicate, precise instruments dreamt at leisure.

Here then is the essence of Capablanca, analyzed for the instruction of players and the pleasure of chess connoisseurs. Included are indexes of openings, themes in the endings, and opponents, as well as a bibliography and record of tournament and match play. Capablanca: for players, the epitome of the endgame; for readers, a classic chess study.

In the phase of the game, the endgame, strange things happen. Material advantages don’t bring home the expected fruits, wins vanish, draws slip away, and frustrations build. Why is it that when things are supposed to be simpler, they become slippery and nearly impossible to handle with any kind of accuracy? And why do players such as Rubinstein, Capablanca, Andersson, Karpov, and Carlsen seem able to drum up resources out of nothing, make the lives of their opponents miserable, and win things that looked drawn and draw things that looked lost? Many factors are at play, but an accurate assessment of the remaining resources, both present and latent, allows these players to make better plans and maximize the potential for a positive outcome.

In this book, experienced authors, IM Lakdawala and FM Hansen, look at this phenomenon and help the reader better “read” the positions to understand what measures are needed in a given position.

Along with numerous practical examples, and endgame studies with practical application, there are also many exercises for the student to work through, either on their own or with a coach.

Ein Lehrbuch des Schachspiels auf ganz neuartiger Grundlage

„Mein System“ erschien zunächst in den Jahren 1925/26 in fünf Lieferungen jeweils als Broschüre und wurden vom Berliner Schachverleger Bernhard Kagan herausgegeben.

Das Buch ist aufgeteilt in zwei Teile: „Die Elemente“ beschäftigt sich mit den Grundlagen der Schachstrategie wie z.B. Zentrum und Entwicklung, offene Turmlinien, die 7. und 8. Reihe, Freibauern etc. Im zweiten Teil wird dann auf dieser Grundlage „Das Positionsspiel“ behandelt: Prophylaxe und Zentrum, Doppelbauer und Hemmung, eigene starke und schwache Bauern bzw. Punkte etc. Über alle Kapitel verteilt gibt es Partiebeispiele, zumeist aus der eigenen Praxis des Autors.

Quelle: https://nimzowitsch.net/mein-system.html

“And the Rest Is Just a Matter of Technique...”

How often has this comment been appended to a game move or variation? As many players know, it really may not be all that easy to figure out what is meant by this familiar phrase.

After the untimely passing of legendary instructor Mark Dvoretsky, Artur Yusupov was given access to Dvoretsky’s famous card files. With the core material based upon these files, the former top ten grandmaster – and perhaps the most successful of all of Dvoretsky’s students – put together this book, modifying and refining the content as needed.

The book begins with a “theoretical” explanatory section. This is followed by 102 practice positions, which increase in in difficulty. Good technique for gaining an advantage is useful in all areas of the game, so there are positions from the opening, middlegame, and especially the endgame – not only from practical games but also from various studies.

The comments to the solutions are very detailed, explaining not only the main line but also the supplementary side variations. Yusupov thought it important to demonstrate the logic in the search for a decision and to show how a chessplayer can come to the right conclusions at the board.

Dvoretsky’s master student Artur Yusupov has done a great job in selecting and presenting the material so that this book “feels” like another genuine Dvoretsky work. This book is a real gem and I hope that it gives you as much pleasure as it has given me. And that from now on, when you have an advantage, the rest really will be, well, just a matter of technique... – From the Foreword by Grandmaster Dr. Karsten Müller

There are many books devoted to basic endgames, even from the Middle Ages. Principles of typical endgames (such as keeping the rook behind a passed pawn, not setting pawns on the same colored squares as your bishop’s, distant pawns being more dangerous than central ones etc.) are well known too. But what about “complex endgames”? I have in mind endgames with at least two pieces on each side; well I don’t find them often nor sufficiently well-explained in the past! It is exactly this fact (together with my passion and great endgame experience) that has motivated me to write this book (many friends simply call me “Endgame Wizard” ).

Over two decades of working as a coach has confirmed my opinion that endgames are the biggest problem for young players. Today, in the computer era with a lot of information easily provided, youngsters all over the world rather play blitz, or solve some tactical puzzles in a manner that is “the faster the better” (or even spend time on some other chess disciplines). All of this neglects the basis of chess – the importance of endgames! It is not uncommon that everyday you can be witness to some strange endgame misunderstanding, even at the top level.

This is why I consider some of my favorite endgame books based on logic as the best I’ve ever read – I learned the endgame from some of the best endgame players and authors. And this is why I want to fill that gap in chess literature and to share my devotion, ideas, principles, opinions with you! I hope you will enjoy this material and I am pretty sure you will broaden your endgame horizons.

Magnus Carlsen’s brilliant endgame play is one of the key reasons for his success. The World Chess Champion can win positions which look drawn to anybody else. And more than any other player, he is able to save bad endings.

For this second volume of Magnus Carlsen Endgame Virtuoso, International Master Tibor Karolyi has selected Carlsen’s best endgames from 2018-2022, whereas the first volume covered 1999-2017. Reviewing these new games and explaining what Magnus was doing, the author was thoroughly impressed. Even Carlsen, who in 2017 was already the best endgame player of all time with Anatoly Karpov, had managed to improve his skills further.

Carlsen has it all. He can find deep ideas, play very technically, and is exceptionally well-versed in strategic and tactical endgames. The author is convinced that this new selection contains even better and more instructive games than Volume one.

Karolyi explains the general ideas in the games and gives concrete variations. Exploring these annotated endgames, you will soon get a good sense of what is happening. You will find out that Carlsen does not rush unless it is necessary. You will learn how Carlsen increases the pressure and uses all available resources. And you will see that sooner or later, his opponents will start playing second-best moves, feeling uncomfortable, following up with some dubious decisions, and, finally, cracking.

Endgame Virtuoso Magnus Carlsen - Volume 2 is a highly instructive, inspiring and entertaining book. It will help you appreciate Magnus’ endgame magic and improve your skills in this important game phase.

Tibor Karolyi is an International Master, a former Hungarian Champion, a prolific chess author and a renowned trainer. For New In Chess, he wrote about Karpov and Carlsen.

This book aims to give you a wealth of self-study knowledge about handling different types of endings that occur frequently but on which there is not much literature analyzing recent games. Imbalanced material endgames involving rooks are a key focus of the book, covering three-fifths of the material, and all endings in the book feature at least one rook. The vast majority of games are taken from the last few years, including many from 2021-2022. Like the author’s previous endgame book published with Elk and Ruby, 101 Endgame Crimes and Punishments (2020), this one is aimed at strong tournament players (1900-2300 Elo) and fast improving juniors.

Specifically, this book covers the following endings: rook vs. minor piece (chapter 1), rook vs. a pair of minor pieces (chapter 2), rook and minor piece vs. rook and minor piece, rook and minor piece vs. rook, rook and minor piece vs. two minor pieces, rook and minor piece vs. a pair of rooks, and rook and minor piece vs. queen (all in chapter 3). 

The material arrangement principles applied for this book are largely consistent with those adopted for the author’s books published earlier. He has selected examples only from games played over the board and in which at least one of the players is a grandmaster. Six of the included games were played by world champion Magnus Carlsen. Other examples come from games by top players such as former world champions Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Vishy Anand, as well as Ian Nepomniachtchi, Ding Liren, Hikaru Nakamura, Sam Shankland, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Judit Polgar, Gata Kamsky, Daniil Dubov and others. Eight of the 101 examples in this book come from the author’s own games.

Endgame positions have been selected so that a person studying the book can see the critical moments of play, such as a single or a series of errors that led to a loss or when one of the sides missed a winning move. Before playing through the correct continuation the reader is advised to try and work it out from the initial diagram.

In this widely acclaimed chess classic, Russian trainer Mikhail Shereshevsky explains how to master the most important endgame principles. Where other endgame manuals focus on the basics and theoretical endgames, this book teaches the ‘big ideas’ that will help you find the most promising and most practical moves in any endgame.

Even in endgames, it helps to think schematically instead of trying to calculate every move. To maximize your winning chances, this invaluable manual will teach you these lessons:

- Do not hurry

- Centralize your king

- Fight for the initiative

- Exploit two weaknesses

- Exchange the right pieces at the right moment

Endgame Strategy is considered to be one of the most important endgame manuals. In comparison with the 1981 publication, this new edition has been thoroughly revised and the author has added dozens of new and inspiring positions.

The book is highly recommended by club players, coaches, and grandmasters alike. ‘I especially read the chapter “Do not hurry!” with pleasure; not just because I agree with what he says, but more importantly because it defines the playing style of Magnus Carlsen,’ said Grandmaster Simen Agdestein, long-time trainer of the Norwegian World Champion.

100 Endgame Patterns You Must Know

When you recognise a pattern, you spot the key move faster, calculate more accurately, and remember what you studied far better. That insight drives this follow-up to Jesús de la Villa’s classic 100 Endgames You Must Know — but where the original covered theoretical endings, this book targets the phase just before them: the practical positions from which those endgames actually arise.

These are the recurring practical fundamentals that let you reap the benefit of theoretical knowledge — the distant and protected passed pawn, the breakthrough, king activity and the "bodycheck," reserve tempi, the opposition and corresponding squares, the good and bad bishop, blockades, and dozens more. De la Villa deliberately chose the 100 patterns with the greatest practical frequency, on the principle that studying a pattern only pays off if you will actually meet it.

Each is explained and illustrated with carefully selected examples, in the clear, myth-busting style that made the original a worldwide bestseller — proof again that the essential endgame is finite and learnable.

A high-value training book for club players and above. It pairs naturally with 100 Endgames You Must Know, but its practical focus makes it genuinely useful on its own.

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"Chess Fundamentals was first published thirteen years ago. Since then there have appeared at different times a number of articles dealing with the so-called Hypermodern Theory. Those who have read the articles may well have thought that something new, of vital importance, had been discovered. The fact is that the Hypermodern Theory is merely the application, during the opening stages generally, of the same old principles through the medium of somewhat new tactics. There has been no change in the fundamentals. The change has been only a change of form, and not always for the best at that. In chess the tactics may change but the strategic fundamental principles are always the same, so that Chess Fundamentals is as good now as it was thirteen years ago. It will be as good a hundred years from now; as long in fact as the laws and rules of the game remain what they are at present. The reader may therefore go over the contents of the book with the assurance that there is in it everything he needs, and that there is nothing to be added and nothing to be changed. Chess Fundamentals was the one standard work of its kind thirteen years ago and the author firmly believes that it is the one standard work of its kind now." – J. R. CAPABLANCA, New York, Sept. 1, 1934

The unique concept of Monster your middlegame planning received a very good feedback from our readers, therefore we decided to continue the series by keeping the same concept for endgames in two volumes. The author GM Efstratios Grivas is going through the most important endgame topics in a testing format, so the reader not only masters endgames, but also tests his actual knowledge.

This ebook is a part of Bundle: Monster Your Planning

Study brings wisdom. Practice brings perfection. Following his highly acclaimed Mastering Chess Strategy and Mastering Opening Strategy, this book completes a trilogy of strategy books by Grandmaster and renowned chess teacher Johan Hellsten. In his new work Hellsten focuses exclusively on endgame play and covers every type of endgame: pawn, minor piece, rook and queen endgames. He examines not only the many fundamental positions that everyone needs to know, but also the key themes and characteristics of successful endgame play, including activity, creating and exploiting weaknesses, active and passive defence, fortresses and technique. Just like his previous two books, Mastering Endgame Strategy is a product of Hellsten's many years' work as a full-time chess teacher and is specifically designed as part of a structured training programme to improve strategic thinking. In addition to the many examples there's an abundance of carefully selected exercises which allow readers to monitor their progress and put into practice what they have just learned. Following such a course is an ideal way for players of all standards to improve. Although designed mainly for students, this book is also an excellent resource for chess teachers and trainers.