Catalogue text:
BRITISH CHESS FEDERATION Book of the Year 2002!
This is a major event in chess publishing. Two German endgame experts have produced a masterly one-volume encyclopedia which covers all major endgames. It supersedes all previous works of this type by being far more accurate and readable. With new time-controls meaning that competitve games are played to a finish, it is especially important that chessplayers understand the main endgame principles, so this is no dry reference work; throughout the book, the authors emphasize the practical elements of endgame play: principles, rules of thumb and thinking methods. They have also provided a feast of detailed analysis for those looking to study the endgame in depth.
Review(s):
BRITISH CHESS FEDERATION Book of the Year 2002!
As far as the judges are aware a Book of the Year award has never gone to an endgame book before, but there is always a first time, particularly when the winner is as good as this year's winner.
Fundamental Chess Endings, Karsten Muller and Frank Lamprecht Gambit £19.99
The subtitle explains the contents: "A new endgame encyclopaedia for the 21st century".
The two authors are experienced writers and trainers and have used their experience to create a textbook, which is divided into 12 chapters with exercises. Indeed the exercises alone form an admirable book within the main text. They have also tried "to connect the best from the past with the most suitable recent examples and research". These objectives have been very successfully achieved. Most of the examples are from recent master practice, though a few of the classics have been retained. All the endings have been checked using modern computer techniques and databases. Whilst this has provided accuracy it should not be thought that the text has suffered as a result. The authors love the endgame phase of the game and this shows in the writing.
Above all the authors' aim is to help players achieve practical results and the book always keeps this in mind eg the selection of material is based on the frequency that a particular ending occurs and that endings are now commonly played with fast time limits and no adjournments. The book is a substantial 416 pages. Printing and presentation is up to the usual high Gambit standards.
Fundamental Chess Endings is set to become the standard endgame encyclopaedia. Anyone reading it will seriously improve their game. At least one of the judges wishes he had studied the relevant section before a recent rook and pawn ending
Ray Edwards, Mike Fox, John Toothill 29 th September 2002
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A massive tome! Do I have the time to read this? I have too many endgame books already! The first impressions of this book are daunting. It is big. But we all have to learn endings and I still haven't got anywhere near finishing Averbakh or Speelman et. al. The book is subtitled "A new endgame encyclopaedia for the 21st century". This book is more geared to teaching endings than being a reference, perhaps you will still need your Averbakh books.
The book's aim is to teach the basics of all endings for the average player. A difficult ask, but it achieves this aim admirably. Of course when you finish this book you will be an above average player at least as far as endgames are concerned. I could argue that some basic concepts are not covered, but in order to cover endings in one book the authors have needed to select a basic syllabus. I believe that they have done an excellent job producing this syllabus within the available space of the book. Once you have learnt this book you will have in your armoury the basic knowledge to tackle any ending on your own.
The chapters of the book are:
- The Basic Mates
- Pawn Endings
- Knight Endings
- Bishop Endings
- Bishop v Knight
- Rook Endings
- Rook v Minor Piece(s)
- Rook and Minor Piece v Rook (and Minor Piece)
- Queen Endings
- Further Queen Endings
- Endgame Strategy
- Further Exercises
- Solutions to Exercises
The approach in teaching endings is the standard approach of teaching one position at a time and uses what Alex Baburin has called the "Lighthouse" approach. This is where a number of key positions are used to explain concepts which can then be recalled to assist you in solving positions which you haven't seen before. You can argue about how many of these positions you need to become proficient in particular endings, such as Pawn endings. This book uses about 63 positions to teach Pawn Endings and it covers them in 37 pages of explanation. I counted about 22 basic pawn ending concepts which are thoroughly explained, such as: the square of the pawn, opposition, pawn breakthrough, outside passed pawn, etc. The Pawn Endings section includes 3 pages on Corresponding Squares which it explains using four "lighthouse" positions. It finishes with an exam of twelve positions that you can use as practice. The other sections cover other piece endings and each has a similar structure to the Pawn Endings section.
The explanations of concepts throughout the book are very good and you do receive a basic education in all sorts of endings. The setout of the book is of excellent quality and all the positions, have been checked using endgame databases. If you only want to buy one endgame book, make it this one.
Very Highly Recommended
Thanks to Australian Chess Forum, Mr. Paul Dunn
