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Practical Endgame Play - Beyond the Basics: The definitive guide to the endgames that really matter (Everyman Chess)
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Product Description
Most endgame books rely upon recycling established theory on basic positions, or concentrate on fantastical studies. This one is different. Well known Grandmaster and endgame expert Glenn Flear examines in depth all endgames which feature either two pieces for each side, or two pieces against one.
Why is this an important subject? Because these situations arise surprisingly frequently in practical play. For example, an examination of any big database will reveal that the endgame of rook and minor piece versus rook and minor piece arises in nearly 20% of games. That means that if you open with 1 e4, you are more likely to reach one of these endgames than you are to face the French Defence. And overall, every time you sit down to play a game of chess, there is nearly a 50% chance that you will reach one of the endgames covered in this book.
If you can handle such endgames well, your results will inevitably improve. This book will show you how.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #223497 in Books
- Published on: 2007-09-01
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Paperback
- 544 pages
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
English Grandmaster Glenn Flear is one of the most popular professionals on the international tournament circuit. He is an experienced trainer and has coached some of the UK’s leading junior players. He also has many chess books to his name. His earlier works for Everyman Chess include Test Your Endgame Thinking and Improve Your Endgame Play.
Customer Reviews
A seminal and strongly recommended addition
Living up to its subtitle, 'The definitive guide to the endgames that really matter', "Practical Endgame Play - Beyond The Basics" by English Grandmaster Glenn Flear" is a 544-page compendium dedicated solely to endgame plays in chess. Included are the most commonly encountered endgames; illustrative examinations of material balances found in roughly half of the endgames played; and sound advice, practical analysis, and endgame insights assisted by currently available computer software. Mastering the intricacies of the endgame is a fundamental chess skill. Without it, players are doomed to frustration and failure. With it, players can achieve the very heights of success. "Practical Endgame Play - Beyond The Basics" is a seminal and strongly recommended addition to personal, professional, and community library chess reference book collections.
An Excellent Book, Though Not a "Must-Buy"
Author Flear describes in his introduction how he wishes to take a different approach, stressing endgame variants that arise often in practice but generally aren't covered in endgame textbooks. In this, he has succeeded. He has compiled statistics on types of endgames and then concentrates, at least somewhat, on the ones that are more important in terms of likelihood of occurrence. Not at all a bad idea, as so many books want to be theoretically complete and spend many pages on endgames likely to be seen once or twice, if ever, in a chessplayer's career.
Flear coins a new term: "Not Quite an Endgame" or "NQE" or, as he puts it, "nuckie." What is an NQE? He defines it rather unclearly as a position with more pieces than an endgame but no more than two per side (not counting pawns). This not so helpful definition is fairly carefully followed in the book, as two per side situations make up nearly the whole content of the text.
What he does do is consider a whole raft of situations that, while statistically probable, aren't necessary treated in an organized manner in other books. This includes things like an exchange advantage with two rooks vs. a rook and a minor piece. Indeed this is "not quite" an endgame but how many times have you seen it in real play? Most likely very often indeed! Rook and minor piece endings are covered thoroughly, such as Rook and Bishop vs. Rook and Knight (and all the other combinations as well), again something seen all the time in practical play.
I especially like the extended section on "Asymmetric Struggles" which considers such things as Rook vs. two minor pieces. Practical? You bet!
The book is a real heavyweight, weighing in at over 500 pages. It has a useful table of contents, a not very useful index of players (and, in typical Everyman Chess style, no other indexes at all), and an attractive and readable layout with typically two or more very clear board diagrams per page. The list price is high enough, but you can get the book for just over half that price if you shop carefully.
The key question, of course, is: should you buy this book? Certainly, if you were to have only one or two endgame books in your library, this wouldn't be one of them. (Silman's Complete Endgame Course would be better by far, and Pandolfini's Endgame Course would be a better choice as well.) However, I might say that if you have those other books, maybe this one would fit in as a third choice, just before you go in for a heavy-duty textbook such as Fine or one of the others. Flear's book is above all practical. After you learn the real basics in one of the "Course" books, you might go in for this very large serving of real-life situations. Only then might you want to learn everything there is to know about endgame theory, even if you might never use it.
Bottom line: a good book, perhaps even an excellent book, but not a "must-buy."
