Endgame Books

At the beginning of the 20th century, Philip H. Williams was, not without reason, called England's chess genius. This was not on account of his abilities at playing chess but rather his ability to compose chess problems.

This book first presents a detailed and richly illustrated treatise on composing chess problems and then moves on to present a selection of 100 problems from Williams' own hands.

This is a truly special book by a special composer. For chess problem enthusiasts, this book should be part of your library.

Winner of the 2015 Best Book Award of the Chess Journalists of America (CJA)

Shortlisted for the English Chess Federation 2015 Book of the Year Award

THIRD, EXTENDED EDITION

Pawn endings do not arise out of nowhere. Before emerging as endgames with just kings and pawns, they 'pre-existed' in positions that still contained any number of pieces.

Liquidation is the purposeful transition into a pawn ending. It is a vital technique that is seldom taught. Strange, because knowing when and how to liquidate can help you win games or save draws.

In this book, former US Chess Champion Joel Benjamin teaches you all you need to know about successfully liquidating into pawn endgames.

He focuses on the practical aspects: what to aim for and how to get there. When to start trading pieces and how to recognize favorable and unfavorable liquidations.

Enter a fascinating world of tempo play (triangulation, zugzwang and opposition), breakthroughs, king activity, passed pawn dynamics, sacrifices and counter-sacrifices.

Exercises will test your growing skills.

This is a ground-breaking, entertaining and instructive guide.

This New and Extended 3rd edition presents 50 new examples, besides other additions and corrections.

At thirteen years of age Joel Benjamin broke Bobby Fischer's record as the youngest ever US master, and this was followed by countless tournament successes. He won the US Championship three times and was the chess consultant for IBM's Deep Blue computer, which made history by beating World Champion Garry Kasparov in an epic encounter.

IM Frank Zeller, Magazine Schach: 

"Benjamin has managed to create an excellent guide to a difficult theme that has been badly served in chess literature (..) If you are really serious about improving your chess, you should work on your Benjamin!" 

Sean Marsh, CHESS Magazine (UK): 

"Entertainment is never far away (..) The material, which feels very fresh, provides an impressive series of easily digestible lessons."

Schach Magazin 64: 

"Strongly recommended (..) In transitions into pawn endgames a lot can be gained and a lot can be lost."

GM Daniel King, creator of the Power Play DVD series: 

'Well written and thoroughly researched. The selected examples have a strong practical value (..) This is an instructive work for players at any level above beginner - but it's not a dry endgame manual. The games contain some beautiful ideas and overall I found the book very entertaining.

GM Matthew Sadler, former British Champion: 

"The book works quite addictively (..) It's dealing with one of the big moments of uncertainty in practical chess."

IM Gary Lane, Chess Moves Magazine: 

"A labour of love that has produced an outstanding book."

The Judges of the ECF Book of the Year Award: 

"An attractive and entertaining book."

GM Daniel Naroditsky, Chess Life Magazine (US): 

"Benjamin tackles one of the most important (and underappreciated) aspects of endgame practice."

GM Karsten Müller, author of 'Fundamental Chess Endings': 

"An excellent new book. The theme of the right exchange is underrepresented in chess literature and Joel Benjamin manages to highlight its importance by investigating the transition into a pawn endgame in deep detail."

Uwe Bekemann, German Correspondence Chess Federation: 

"Engages itself with a theme on which there is not a lot of literautre (..) It will doubtlessly enrich players with a new aspect of the art of playing chess."

Jan Timman completes an impressive and fascinating trilogy with his collected studies. In Timman's Titans, winner of the 2017 ECF Book of the Year Award, he writes about the world champions he admires. In Timman's Triumphs, he annotates his hundred best games. In Timman's Studies, he offers his collected compositions of endgame studies.

Throughout his career, Jan Timman has been captivated by the mystery and splendor of endgame studies. Even during his most successful and busy years as a world-class player, he continued to compose and admire endgame studies. He has always believed that his exploration of this magical world helped him grow as a player.

In this book, he presents 160 studies and explains how they were created, whether inspired by the works of other composers or game positions.

Jan Timman, a former world championship candidate, rose to number two on the FIDE world rankings. He is the author of several bestsellers, including Timman's Titans, Timman's Triumphs, The Art of the Endgame, 100 Endgame Studies You Must Know, and Max Euwe's Best Games. In 2022, he was awarded the title of FIDE Master of Composition.

The world’s top trainer, Mark Dvoretsky, and one of his best-known pupils, grandmaster Artur Yusupov, present a five-volume series based on courses given to talented young players throughout the world. The books contain contributions by other leading trainers and grandmasters, as well as games by pupils who have attended the courses.

Successful endgame play is all about technique. In this third volume of the series the authors explain how to study the endgame and to analyse endgame positions, and illustrate the highly important technique of converting an advantage.

Solving studies is well established as an effective method of chess improvement. Yochanan Afek is one of the world’s greatest ever study composers, and in this new edition he shares his finest creations, combining artistic beauty with practical relevance. This new book contains every study from the original Practical Chess Beauty along with thirty fresh studies composed by Afek in the interim period, all freshly checked for accuracy. Ignite your imagination, augment your appreciation of chess geometry, and fine-tune your feeling for the pieces’ potential by uncovering the magic contained in the hundreds of studies in this book. Or simply wonder at some of the most stunning chess moves ever conceived.

Next year, Chess Informant will proudly celebrate its 60th anniversary. To commemorate this remarkable milestone, we are delighted to present the first volume in our new series: "From the Chess Informant’s Archives."

From the vast trove of material accumulated over the decades, we have chosen to begin with Selected Endings. Endgames first appeared as a special section in Informant No. 5 and have been published regularly ever since.

This volume presents a carefully curated selection of 705 endgames, chosen not only for their instructional value but also for their aesthetic beauty and conceptual depth.

All endgames are presented in the spirit of their time - as they were played and annotated when they first appeared.

The book is also for experienced chess players as well as beginners!

The Sixth Edition of a Modern Masterpiece

When it appeared in 2003, the first edition of Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual was immediately recognized by novice and master alike as one of the best books ever published on the endgame. The enlarged and revised sixth edition – 504 pages – is better than ever! German grandmaster Karsten Müller, widely recognized as one of the best endgame theoreticians in the world today, has carefully updated the sixth edition with the help of American grandmaster Alex Fishbein.

Here is what Magnus Carlsen, the 16th World Champion, had to say in his foreword to the sixth edition:

“This book occupies a very special place in chess literature… Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual will fill you with the joy and knowledge that will surely improve both your endgame skills and your understanding of our royal game.”

Here is what Vladimir Kramnik, the 14th World Champion, had to say in his foreword to the fifth edition:

“I consider it to be one of the very best chess books published in recent times…”

“Dvoretsky’s analysis is staggering in its depth and accuracy.” – John Watson in his review of the first edition in The Week In Chess.

“Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual comes close to an ultimate one-volume manual on the endgame.” – Lubomir Kavalek in his review of the first edition in his Washington Post column.

Discover the hidden secrets of chess in its knight endgames! While many focus on openings and middle-game tactics, true mastery lies in understanding the nuances of endgames. Whether you’re a beginner, coach, or seasoned player, perfecting your endgame technique is paramount. Why? Because it’s in the endings that the most profound chess secrets are revealed.

Knight Endgames Workbook comprises 300 knight endgame exercises curated by GM Branko Tadić. These tests are categorized based on the number of pawns, mirroring the structure of the book “KNIGHT ENDGAMES – GRANDMASTER ENDGAMES COLLECTION” by GM Vlatko Kovačević.

I was pleased to become acquainted with the endgame chess workbook by the young creative duo from Serbia. Endgame technique is often a stumbling block not only for beginner chess players but also for experienced professionals. What immediately stands out is the fresh and high-quality selection of material, as well as the fairly large number of examples. I have no doubt that the reader who diligently masters this work will, like a Jedi from the famous Star Wars saga, feel the Force within and play endgames with much greater confidence. The book is intended not only for coaches and titled players but can also be recommended to a wide audience of chess enthusiasts.

Chess problems and chess composition are topics of which most chess players are aware but have little understanding.

This is, of course, no surprise to those who enjoy chess problems and other chess compositions. Their world contains different kinds of rules, names, techniques, both when composing and solving, and these are not easy to grasp unless you get a good introduction.

In this volume, Peruvian Chess Problem composer Antonio Tarnawiecki takes the reader along on his journey from a novel composer to becoming more serious and seasoned, understanding more and more facets of composition while working with some of today’s most familiar names in chess composition, winning some prizes along the way while also understanding that you only become better when working hard and being patient, and encountering a community that includes countless famous chess players that are eager to enjoy what he creates.

In writing the Manual of the Endgame, the author has dealt with the subject mainly from a practical point of view. It is intended for the beginner who, though having acquired a certain degree of playing strength in the opening and in the middlegame, is weak when it comes to the endgame, owing to insufficient study.

The opening and the endgame – though not the middlegame – are open to analytical treatment, and, therefore, in both of them, theoretical knowledge is indispensable. The player who lacks it in either will be severely handicapped in his practical play. Of what use is it to the amateur who, after avoiding all the pitfalls of the opening and after a well-played middlegame, has obtained a good or even winning position if he does not know how to take advantage of it in the face of his opponent’s superior handling of the endgame? He is caught again by subtleties and tricks which should be familiar to him. It is certainly annoying to be deprived at the end of a well-deserved victory, as so often happens, and for the beginner, the realization that he is helpless in the endgame is very depressing. He soon recognizes that he must study the theory of the endgame, it is true, but in trying to do so, he comes up against some unexpected difficulties.