|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
Chessville
Advertise to Single insert:
|
ReviewsEndgame BooksReviewed by S. Evan Kreider 6/2/02 Pandolfini’s Endgame Course, by NM Bruce Pandolfini (Fireside / Simon & Schuster, 1988). Just the Facts: Winning Endgame Knowledge in One Volume, by GM Lev Alburt and GM Nikolay Krogius (Chess Information and Resource Center, 2000). Basic Chess Endings, by GM Reuben Fine (David McKay, 1941/1989). Batsford Chess Endings, by GM Jon Speelmann, et al (Batsford, 1993). Fundamental Chess Endings, by GM Karsten Müller and IM Frank Lamprecht (Gambit, 2001). Most amateur players hate studying the endgame. After all, it’s boring! And anyway, most amateur games end in the middlegame, through tactics and checkmate, right? So what’s the point of studying the endgame at all?! Well, the point is that most amateur players don’t play endgames very well, and by arming yourself with some basic endgame knowledge and skill, you can win a lot more games, or at least avoid losing so many! In this review, I will be looking at five popular endgame books, and try to give you an idea of what each of them contains, and whether or not they would be helpful to you, the improving player. Let’s begin with Pandolfini’s Endgame Course. Though published back in 1988, this book is still very popular. It has a bit of a reputation as a beginner’s endgame book, but it contains a great deal of information useful to the intermediate player as well. Part One is entitled “The Pieces in Action,” and deals with pawnless endings. Chapter One is “Elementary Checkmates: Heavy Pieces” (K+Q+R v. K / K+R+R v. K / K+Q v. K / K+R v. K). This chapter is mostly for the total beginner, and might initially seem unnecessary, since most chess primers already cover this information. However, Pandolfini does use the opportunity to point out certain common mistakes to avoid (like stalemate), and more impressively, he teaches several tricks for checkmating as quickly and efficiently as possible (like the “Queen and Rook Roll”, which I don’t usually see in chess primers), which can really come in handy in blitz chess or endgames played in time-trouble. Chapter Two is “Elementary Checkmates: Minor Pieces,” wherein Pandolfini teaches checkmates involving K+B+B v. K and K+B+K v. K. I must say, this chapter contains the clearest explanations of these sometimes tricky checkmates I’ve read. I’ve always been terribly afraid of K+B+N v. K, but this chapter breaks it down step-by-step into digestible pieces. Not that such mates occur with much frequency, but if you should ever decide to learn them, this book is definitely the place to go. Chapter Three is “Heavy Pieces in Combat (K+Q v. K+Q / K+Q v. K+R), and Chapter Four is “Rooks and Minor Pieces” (R v. B / R v. N / R+B v. R). For the most part, these pawnless and relatively equal material endgames are draws, but knowing that an endgame is a draw and actually drawing it are often two very different things. It’s also important to be able to recognize the rarer wins, as well as how to win them. In either case, Pandolfini shows all the important positions and techniques the amateur player needs to know. Part Two, “The Pawns in Action,” is probably the most valuable part of the whole book. Endgames often boil down to king and pawn situations; in fact, you could easily argue that K+P v. K forms the basis of endgame theory. There are five chapters devoted to teaching the essential pawn endings, mostly focusing around K+P v. K / K+2P v. K / K+P v. K+P / K+2P v. K+P, but a few of the more important multi-pawn positions are also discussed. Pandolfini covers important pawn endgame concepts such as the square of the pawn, opposition, shouldering, critical squares, gaining and losing key tempi, outflanking, triangulation, breakthroughs, and much more (he even takes a stab at the theory of corresponding squares!). As you can see from just this partial list, there is plenty of important information here for players from novice to advanced intermediate; in fact, I might go so far as to say that this section contains everything the non-master player would ever need to know about king and pawn endgames, if not more. Part Three, “Pieces and Pawns in Action” covers endings with (surprisingly enough) both pieces and pawns on the board, including: Q v. P(s) / R v. P(s) / B v. P / N(s) v. P / B+P (v. K) / B+P v. P / N+P (v. K) / N+P v. P / Q v. R+P / Q+P v. R+P / Q+P v. Q / R+P v. R / R+P(s) v. R(+P) / B+P v. B / K+P v. N / B+P v. N / N+P v. B. (Whew!) As you can see, this part of the book provides a thorough coverage of all the basic types of endings. More complex endings are often merely combinations of (or can quickly reduce to) simpler ones, so mastering these basics can go a long way. What is especially good about these chapters is how Pandolfini is able to point out the important strategies, techniques, and / or tactics behind each type of endings in such a clear and concise manner. For example, he clearly communicates the important elements of rook endings, such as Lucena’s position, Philidor’s drawing technique, important uses of the skewer tactic, etc. For another example, he shows the essential components Queen and pawn endings, such as counter-checking, perpetual checking, and the importance of far-advanced passed pawns. I think the best thing about this book, and the feature that makes it so much more digestible than most other endgame books, is the format. Each lesson is a single page based around a single diagram of a key position, a clear and concise (but thorough) explanation of the key strategy, technique, and / or tactic behind the position, and a demonstration of that key via a short series of moves (in most cases, short and simple enough to work through in your head, making it the ideal travel book). More complex ideas are broken into several smaller ones, taught one step at a time (for example, the explanation of the “basic” B+N mate). This book is definitely a good choice for any player below expert level, and affordable too, listing at $12 U.S. Alburt’s and Krogius’ Just the Facts: Winning Endgame Knowledge in One Volume is a more recent text which purports a purpose similar to Pandolfini’s Endgame Course; viz., to provide all the endgame strategy necessary for the amateur player in a single book. However, there are not only some important differences in the content of Alburt’s book compared to Pandolfini’s, but also very different pedagogical techniques and writing styles. Let us look at the content first. Despite the title’s suggestion, this book does not contain all essential endgame information; in fact, it explicitly omits a few of the most basic endgame concepts and strategies. For example, the chapter on Basic Checkmates does not include the most basic of all checkmates such as K+Q v. K or K+R v. K. Instead, Alburt refers the reader back to earlier volumes in his Comprehensive Chess Course series. Also, the most fundamental K+P v. K techniques (such as the basic K+P v. K pawn-promoting position involving the use of opposition and outflanking) are omitted, again with a reference to earlier volumes in Alburt’s series. I find this unacceptable. This basic information could have been included in only a very few additional pages, especially since the book has quite a few pages discussing “famous endgame players,” and while these bios are interesting, they are not particularly necessary, and could have been replaced with the aforementioned endgame basics. However, I suspect most readers will not consider this a serious flaw, since such endgame fundamentals are easily found in any basic chess primer, and since most readers will have undoubtedly already learned these basics. Having said that, it must be pointed out that Alburt’s book does contain some items which Pandolfini’s does not. For example, Queen v. Rook and minor piece with pawns; or endings with the “two bishops” advantage; or (to point out an especially important example) Rook v. minor pieces with pawns still on the board (Pandolfini’s only covers Rook v. minor piece without pawns). These sorts of endgames are not at all uncommon in amateur games, where a middlegame tactical opportunity might win one player the exchange, or perhaps a Queen in return for a Rook and minor piece, followed by trading pieces in order to go into an ending with a material advantage with the hopes of promoting a pawn. These kind of “mixed bag” endings are important to learn, and Alburt provides instruction Pandolfini omits. So far it may sound as if, aside from the few differences mentioned above, the two books overlap a great deal with regard to content. In a sense, that’s true: the table of contents reveals that they both have many similar chapters (various King and pawn endgames, various Rook and pawn endgames, Bishop v. pawn, Knight v. pawn, etc.). However, there is a huge difference in the way these two books cover the same subjects. First of all, Pandolfini’s style is extremely concise, almost encyclopedic (as far as style of presentation, not breadth of coverage); Alburt’s, on the other hand, is presented in prose form, with a style not unlike an actual chess lesson. I wouldn’t claim that either one of these styles is better than the other, in general. Rather, it depends upon the particular reader: some people might prefer one style, some the other. Second of all, Pandolfini tends to boil things down to the bare essentials, and so focuses on very “simple” endings with as few pieces and pawns on the board as necessary to demonstrate the relevant point. This is probably best for novices and aspiring intermediates. Alburt’s, on the other hand, shows more “complex” endings, with more pieces and pawns on the board, such as might occur in real endgames. This is probably better for more experienced intermediate players, and / or for someone who has already mastered the simpler positions in Pandolfini’s book. On a related point, Alburt spends more time showing transitions from complex to simple endings, and even from middlegames to endgames. Again, this is probably more suitable for more advanced intermediates, and / or those who have already mastered the simpler, and in some ways, more artificial endgame positions presented in Pandolfini’s book. My assessment of these two instructional books is probably already obvious: I think Pandolfini’s book is the better choice for a first endgame book for the novice or aspiring intermediate, while Alburt’s book is the better choice for the advanced intermediate player, or someone who has mastered Pandolfini’s book and wants to solidify and expand on that knowledge. Before I conclude, I would like to point out one more difference between the two books: price. Pandolfini’s book currently lists at $12 US; Alburt’s at $26.95 US. I’ve never quite understood why the books in Alburt’s Comprehensive Chess Course series are so expensive compared to books with similar content, and this one is no exception. So if price is an issue for you, you may want to stick to Pandolfini’s, regardless of other factors. At some point, you will probably want to invest in a decent but affordable one-volume endings encyclopedia. Such a book will be particularly useful for post-game analysis of difficult endgame positions, and also for learning advanced endgame concepts and techniques. In the rest of this review, I will look at three such encyclopedias: Fine’s Basic Chess Endings (henceforth FBCE), Batsford’s Chess Endings (BCE), and the new Fundamental Chess Endings (FCE). FBCE is a classic work, often recommended by Master-level players who have been around a while. After all, this is probably a book they themselves used! However, its age (the original copyright date is 1941) definitely shows. Although it’s true that the theory and principles of the endgame don’t change with the frequency of those of the opening, contemporary endgame research has an advantage unavailable to Fine in 1941: computer analysis. Despite the fact that the lack of computer assistance makes Fine’s own analysis even more admirable, there are still a number of erroneous conclusions which damage the value of this book as a definitive reference source. From what I understand, Samuel Louie’s BCE Corrections gives quite a few examples of this, though I personally have not been able to get my hands on a copy. However, various corrections to FBCE also appear in Chess Life and other publications with some regularity. A second age-related disadvantage of FBCE is the use of descriptive notation. I know, some people claim they prefer descriptive, but I personally have never been able to understand this. In my mind (and I believe the vast majority of contemporary chess players would agree with me) algebraic notation is much easier to follow, and much less prone to errors (both on the part of the author and the reader). This is unfortunate, because in many ways FBCE is a good instructional text: Fine’s analysis is supplemented with prose explanations of the principles inherent in the positions, and he even concludes the book with a short section of general endgame principles which have great practical value for the improving player. If an ambitious editor and publisher would be willing to reprint FBCE in algebraic notation, it would greatly improve it’s value as an instructional text. In the meantime, I personally haven’t the courage required to face descriptive notation for more than a page or two, thus relegating this book to no more than the occasional reference source. On that note, I must admit that despite also owning BCE and FCE, I do still keep a copy of FBCE around. In general, I find that FBCE is slightly more comprehensive and examines a wider scope of endings than the other two. On those occasions when I am unable to find a specific endgame position (or at least a closely related position) in BCE or FCE, I often find it in FBCE. So, although I don’t recommend FBCE as a primary reference source or instructional manual, I do recommend it as a decent supplemental work. Batsford’s Chess Endings is a much more recent publication, and its youth gives it some advantages over FBCE. First, it is in algebraic notation, making it much easier to read than FBCE. Second, it has been computer-checked for accuracy, thus allowing it to avoid the sorts of errors which can be found in FBCE. These two factors alone make it an overall better reference work than FBCE. In general, the content is quite good. Each position is thoroughly analyzed, with a concise explanation of its underlying principles when appropriate. Important sections also conclude with brief discussions of general principles and techniques. For example, the K+P section concludes with concise explanations of opposition, triangulation, corresponding squares, etc. However, its conciseness, while making it an excellent reference work, make BCE less useful as an instructional text, especially for the intermediate player who may be encountering some of these concepts for the first time. So given a choice between FBCE and BCE, I’d recommend FBCE as the better instructional text of the two, and BCE as the better reference source, but I’d qualify both recommendations with the various shortcomings mentioned above. Luckily, a new book has arrived on the scene of endgame encyclopedias which I can recommend as the best instructional text and reference work among the three discussed here. That book is, of course, Karsten Müller's and IM Frank Lamprecht's Fundamental Chess Endings. There isn’t all that much I can say about FCE: it’s so good that I can’t point out any specific flaws! FCE definitely serves as a more-than-satisfactorily thorough endings reference source. That’s not to say one mightn’t ever find a position in FBCE or BCE which isn’t in FCE, but odds are that FCE will meet the overwhelming majority of positions which the typical player will ever face. To note a few examples of the most important and common types of endgames, FCE provides about three dozen pages on king and pawn endings, about 95 pages on rook and pawn endings, and about 55 pages on rook and minor piece (with and without pawns) endings. All of these sections provide ample information to help the improving player with positions which arise with a great deal of practical regularity. This book also serves as an excellent instructional text, with thorough and clear discussions of the principles, techniques, and ideas underlying the various endings. The text includes plenty of appropriate examples, and even has practice problems which help the reader assimilate the information. The book ends with a chapter of exercises for further practice, and another chapter summarizing the most important endgame strategies and principles. In conclusion, I wholeheartedly recommend FCE. If you can only afford one of these three encyclopedias, get this one. Copyright 2002 S. Evan Kreider. Used with permission. |
The
|
|||
|
|||||
