Book Description

The endgame in chess is the one facet of chess which most players pay least attention to, but the study of which can give the most pay off. Sure, it is very attractive to study openings or tactics to help you gain an immediate large advantage, but how does a large advantage material or positional advantage help you if you cannot convert it to a win once you reach the endgame?The aim of this book is to make the study of endings a little less daunting. Of course there will be some work involved in the process of taking you from a relative novice to a reasonable strong endgame player.The material is split up in the following parts:Basic Knowledge, which includes everything you have to know, the kind of material which you should be able to rattle of in the middle of the night, if someone has to courage to wake you up to test you. The reason for this is that you will likely only see these types of positions at the end of a long game, when either you are tired or have no time left on the clock, or both. It has to be second nature. While most of these endgames look simple, it may not prove to be so simple when under the severe pressure of having no time left on the clock. I will take time to explain all the background knowledge and tricks relevant to these endings. The endgames in this section will mostly comprise of basic checkmates and pawn endingsWhat You Should Know builds on top of the knowledge you have acquired in the first part, and will serve to lift you up above those players who have never really studied endgames. This part will include endgames of all types: pawn, rook, bishop, knight and queen endings, but balanced out on what is still mostly relevant to you in your progress to becoming a stronger player.Kicking it up a Notch will take you even further, introduce you to more complicated endgames, with more pawns, more pieces, uneven material distribution, and present advice on how to play approximately equal positions, both as the defender and as the aggressor, because you never know when you will need to win an important game from an equal position in the endgame.Along the way there are opportunities to test your acquired knowledge and subsequently present you with the answers.All in all, a very comprehensive treatment for beginners and novices of this most important aspect of the game of chess.