Endgame Books

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.

New and substantially expanded edition of a modern chess classic. By chance, in 2013 publisher New In Chess discovered a previously unnoticed and unpublished extra batch of endgame tactics collected by the legendary Dutch correspondence grandmaster Ger van Perlo (1932-2010). More than 250 fresh examples have been added, making this fourth edition 25% BIGGER than its predecessors. For casual players and club players. Why is it that most amateur chess players love opening and middlegame tactics but hate endgames? Why do you usually look at only a couple of pages in any endgame theory book you see? Sit back, forget about theoretical endgames, and enjoy the entertainment of real life chess in Endgame Tactics! There is no substitute for hard work in getting better at chess, as a wise grandmaster once said. But you always work harder at something you enjoy. Make the first step towards improving your endgame play (and beating more opponents) by learning to love the endgame. Endgames are fun, and the examples from everyday practice in Endgame Tactics prove it. – New (4th) and 25% expanded edition of a best- selling modern classic; – More than 1,300 Sparkling Tricks and Traps; – WINNER of the ECF Book of the Year Award; – WINNER of the ChessCafe Book of the Year Award; – Makes regular players discover the fun in endgame.

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.

Any good chess coach will tell you to study the endgame. Improving your knowledge of the ‘third phase’ in a chess game will bring you many extra half or even full points.

After the success of his award-winning classics, Chess Strategy for Club Players and Attacking Chess for Club Players Herman Grooten has now written an equally instructive endgame manual. He teaches you how to understand the themes of an endgame, and find the right moves based on your understanding.

International Master Herman Grooten learned about endgames the hard way, as many good players have. Early in his career, he realized there was a lot to be gained in this undervalued part of the game. Building on his experience as a player and coach, Grooten takes an original approach to convey his message: the endgames are divided according to theme, not chess material. This is a novel, but very effective way to learn the ins and outs, since many themes can occur with different material balances.

The material is richly illustrated with many examples from practical play, as well as endgame studies, which present the motifs in their purest and most attractive form. The result is a lively and highly instructive guide to the endgame.

The best place to start your tactics training is in the endgame! Chess is 99% tactics – and if you want to win more games, nothing works better than training tactics. Win a piece or find a mate. That will get you results.

Since most of the pieces have left the board, endgame tactics have the clarity that enables you to grasp all basics concepts quickly and comprehensively. In the endgame, you can focus on what is important without any distractions by a couple of random pawns and pieces.

In 1001 Chess Endgame Exercises for Beginners, IM Thomas Willemze does two things at once. He explains all the basic concepts, and provides you with a huge amount of exercises for each theme and each chess piece. Willemze uses all his experience as a coach, and his familiarity with the famous Step Method, to carefully build up your chess knowledge step-by-step. He shows you the strength of all pieces, from the lonely pawn to the almighty queen. And he guides you from the basics to more complex tactics in a highly instructive puzzle rush.

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.

Sergei Tkachenko, a member of the Ukrainian team that won the 5th World Chess Composition Tournament in 1997 and which came second in 2000, 2004, 2013, and 2017, has collected 100 studies whose common theme is that white ends up with just one rook in the finale, yet manages to win or draw

Tigran Gorgiev (1910-1976) was one of the Soviet Union’s best endgame study composers. In his lifetime he produced around 400 studies and wrote three books and 101 articles with chess compositions. The vast majority of his endgame studies are of a practical nature, meaning that the positions presented could have arisen in over-the-board play. This makes them particularly useful to study for practical players as well as study fans. Sergei Tkachenko, a member of the Ukrainian team that won the 5th World Chess Composition Tournament in 1997 and which came second in 2000, 2004, 2013, and 2017, has selected his 100 favorite Tigran Gorgiev studies, revising some of them and providing explanations suitable for less experienced solvers. There are no more than six moves in most solutions, so experienced chess players can analyze the positions directly from the diagrams.

I chose to write a book on advanced rook endings as I simply did not wish to write another book that would be like the many already available. I have done my best to present analysis and articles I have written over the past 10–15 years. This work has been presented in my daily coaching sessions, seminars, workshops, etc. The material has helped a lot of trainees to develop into quite strong players gaining international titles and championships. The endgame is the moment of truth. It is the phase of the game where we will try to reap the seeds of our effort regardless of whether that is the full point of victory or the half point of the draw. The significance of errors increases in the endgame as the opportunities for correcting them are few. Mark Dvoretsky makes a general quote: Rook activity is the cornerstone in the evaluation and play of rook endgames. This activity may take diverse forms: from attacking the enemy pawns, to the support of one’s own passed pawns, to the interdiction or pursuit of the enemy king. There are indeed times when the rook must remain passive and implement purely defensive functions. But even then, one must stubbornly seek out any possibility of activating the rook, not even stopping at sacrificing pawns, or making your own king’s position worse.

There are already many endgame books, so why this one? Well, most books deal with elementary endgames, or are very advanced and contain few exercises. But you have only really learned something when you can execute it at the board, with the clock ticking. And solving exercises is very close to this scenario.

The authors present 450 endgame exercises designed to improve your understanding of endgame theory and sharpen your endgame expertise. Starting with the chapter “Specific Positions to Know,” they take you on a journey with just the right mix of practical advice and theoretical knowledge.

Endgame Corner is detailed, well-researched, informative and in-depth, with both authors sharing their experiences, recent games and new examples... I really like this material and hope that you will as well. If you are fascinated by endings, or feel the need to improve this part of your game, this book is a “must” addition to your library. – From the Foreword by Wesley So

German grandmaster Karsten Müller hosts the popular ChessBase series Endgame Magic, and American grandmaster Alex Fishbein writes an endgame column for the American Chess Magazine.

They are two of the world’s renown endgame experts. They were the editors of the fifth edition of the best-selling Dvoretsky Endgame Manual and they also collaborated on the Fasttrack Edition of DEM5.

Perhaps the greatest beauty in chess can be found in endgame studies. Delightful twists and turns on the board are combined into true works of art. In studies, chess is distilled into its purest form, with all pieces making only the most essential moves. Endgame studies are also useful exercises for practical chess players, as they show patterns, improve calculation, and inspire out-of-the-box thinking.

Grandmaster Jan Timman has been fascinated by endgame studies since his youth. The artistry and perfection have always appealed to him. In recent years his focus has shifted from practical chess to composing endgame studies, and many of his compositions have won awards. Timman wrote about composing in The Art of the Endgame (New In Chess, Revised Edition 2023).

In this new book Timman presents the one hundred greatest endgame studies. In five chapters he guides you through masterpieces of increasing difficulty, beginning with elementary endings such as the Réti and Lasker manoeuvres. The studies include themes such as minor) promotion, Zugzwang and domination, all beautifully illustrated and clearly explained. By the time you reach the final chapter with the most complicated examples, you will be amazed at the myriad possibilities of chess and inspired to add more finesse to your own endgame play.

Jan Timman, World Chess Champion finalist, is the author of many bestselling chess books. Timman's Titans won the 2017 ECF Book of the Year Award, and his recent books, The Longest Game, The Unstoppable American, Timman's Triumphs and Max Euwe's Best Games have all met with wide acclaim. He was awarded the title of FIDE Master of Chess Composition in 2022.

Sergei Tkachenko, a member of the Ukrainian team that won the 5th World Chess Composition Tournament in 1997 and which came second in 2000, 2004, 2013, and 2017, has collected 100 studies whose common theme is that white ends up with just one pawn in the finale, yet manages to win or draw.