snits wrote on 10/19/08 at 11:08:01:


Several cheap used copies (below 3 GBP) are available from marketplace sellers at amazon.co.uk

The excellent and very readable book by Makarov is a complete course with chapters on
1. Pawn endings; 2. Knight endings; 3. Bishop endings; 4. Bishop against Knight;
5. Rook against Light pieces 6. Rook endings 7. Rook and Light piece against Rook 8. Queen endings

Its only drawback? With Dvoretzky or Müller/Lamprecht you get 100% more material for only 20% more money.
But if you´re an advanced club player (let´s say 1700-2100) und would shy away from the sheer volume
of those scientific books, Makarov could be an interesting choice.

tracke 

IMJohnCox wrote on 01/25/08 at 11:00:07:


Excuse I do not connect so often these days. Makarov's book is a chess Stars publication, translated as usual with their readable but not perfect english that I find pretty good as it goes through easy enough examples that are close(r) to practical play.

All the positions given in theoretical manuals have their rooks optimally posted (for example). But in real endings, they could be all over the place, and also you could have a pawn or two added to the board for good measure.

At my current expertise level/ability to work on endings I find these books good to refresh the theory I know and deepen my knowledge/understanding of it without going to depths one is hardly ever going to encounter OTB and even if one actually does, both players are going to play sub-optimally and with no time but the pathetic increment!

The book covers pawn, rook and other endings. It is upstairs but I am too tired to go and fetch it!

Regards to all

Greetings,

Stigma
I have found another book which appears to include some a chapter on double-rook endgames.

Essential Chess Endings for Advanced Players by John Donaldson.
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Chess-Endings-Advanced-Players/dp/B000U6RVQA/ref...

I also have a PDF downloaded from a website long ago (forgotten which one!) which comprises a hundred double-rook endgame studies.

It's called - wait for it! - 100 Two Rook Endings.

Kindest regards,

Dragan Glas

Greetings,

Thank you Stigma - I was just about to buy the older version when I saw this. I'll look forward to getting it.

One thing, though, I've yet to find a endgame book that deals with the double-rook ending, which is something I'd like to see.

Kindest regards,

Dragan Glas

Dragan Glas wrote on 02/01/08 at 00:36:35:


Gambit editor Graham Burgess mentioned this book when he was the guest on John Watson's "Chess Talk" radio show recently. Apparently the analysis has been updated/corrected with reference to new 6-man tablebases, whereas only 5-man tablebases were available to Emms when he originally wrote the book.

Probably that means all the examples and most explanatory text is the same, but now the analysis is just a little bit more accurate. Burgess didn't say how many changes had to be made, though. The page count is identical - 160.

IMJohnCox wrote on 01/25/08 at 11:00:07:


http://www.chess-stars.com/complete_list.html#Endgame

I think there's one on pawns, one on queens, one on minor pieces and one on rooks.

I tried a couple of training exercises with the rooks one and both positions were wrongly analysed (as I believe, at any rate let's say interesting alternatives went unmentioned). I meant to post them and tap the wisdom of UKC, but I haven't got round to it yet.

Not that that's much of a criticism; they're a useful enough resource for what they are.

I agree with what is said about Speelman/Livshits; brilliant little book (as usual with JS) despite poor production values. I like Jon's Analysing the Endgame and Endgame Preparation too (or whatever they're called exactly).

Off-topic, does anyone know if one can, or has ever been able to, get Cheron in English?