rossia wrote on 06/30/08 at 15:47:15:


You're welcome, Rossia. Good luck in your efforts! 

Smyslov_Fan wrote on 06/30/08 at 08:15:44:


Thanks for the tip, Smyslov_Fan - I guess I'll stick with my old 1971 Batsford hardback in descriptive notation.

Incidentally, as recommended by GM Jesse Kraai at chesslecture.com, I've started studying the book "Vasily Smyslov: Endgame Virtuoso", which contains 122 of the great man's endgames, plus 40 complete annotated games that result in endings - fantastic value! Not sure it's working yet though...!    But if I rise above 2200 in the next twelve months I'll probably rename my handle to Smyslov_Fan II!   

rossia wrote on 06/30/08 at 12:38:07:


I very much agree with Stigma's comments on the list of specialized rook ending books in his posting of 06/22/08.

If it is of any interest, the endgame books I recommend to students are:

Endgames in Chess by Theo Schuster - a handy introduction to the basics of the endgame, small enough not to be intimidating to juniors. Can be picked up quite cheap on Amazon etc. The book is not perfect, but for several of my students it has been the beginning of a real interest in the endgame and the start of their independent study of endings.

Practical Rook endings - Mednis - fine up to about FIDE 2000 or until the student wants to know more.

Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual - probably all that most players will ever actually need.

Fundamental Chess Endings - useful for reference.

How to play chess endings - a good read, and great for technique, tricks of the trade.

We are fortunate that there are so many good books on the endgame these days, including some that look excellent but which I have not had time to evaluate properly yet, e.g. Flear's two recent large tomes. 

But different books appeal to different people; if a student prefers a different book from one I have recommended, then who am I to dissuade him or her? GM Nigel Davies once wrote that the one book on endings from which he felt he had learned the most was Znosko-Borovsky's old "How to play chess endings" first published around 1940!! Another GM once told me words to the effect of "stuff the books, just study the endgames of Ulf Anderssen!". Must do that one day...

De gustibus non est disputandum.

Since you ask, my FIDE rating is 2155.

I have all of the works mentioned, apart from the Pinter, and more.  Like many others at this forum, apparently, I used to have the subconscious belief that "just one more book and I'll have cracked it". A sadder and a wiser man, I now realize that in the study of chess, quality is far more important than quantity.

Nearly all the books in the list are useful, in varying degrees, but it depends what you want to achieve in studying them.

For the practical player, IMHO the section on rook endings in Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual is probably about as good as anything else. It's got a careful selection of material, tried and tested on his students and chosen from the point of view of long-term practical usefulness. It also contains some recent(ish) discoveries in rook ending theory.

BTW, as I suggested in an earlier, post, the practical player should not overestimate the amount of endgame theory needed. There is a 2500 at my club who made IM without knowing much more rook ending theory than the Philidor and Lucena positions and the principle of rook activity. Only later did he begin to study the endgame in more depth (using Dvoretsky).

Markovich wrote on 06/28/08 at 01:42:01:


Levenfish's book is certainly out of print. Where can I get it, or better said, does exists pdf version or something similar?

It's a bit strange: those classics aren't to be republished! But why not? I really do not understand why.

rossia wrote on 06/24/08 at 17:02:44:

I'm really not very interested in selling, at least until I have made some more use of them. And apparently they are getting quite rare.
If you can't find them in any other language, and you have a REALLY good offer, PM me and I will consider it.

Thanks for answers 

I picked up all 5 volumes of Comprehensive Chess Endings (the Pergamon edition from the mid-80s) on a special offer from Cadogan Chess (now Everyman) around 7 years ago. Because they could at that point no longer offer the complete set in either hardcover or softcover, I got all 5 for only £15! Two books are hardcover and three softcover, but at that price I can live with that, in retrosepct this was a HUGE bargain! 

It seems the books in English are mostly out of print, though the London Chess Centre claims to have three of the volumes (not the Rook Endings one).

Rossia, with your name I wonder why you don't try to find the book in Russian instead? For example, I found the following by simply googling "Averbakh" and "Rook Endings":

http://www.chessdate.com/?cd=shop&pid=682

rossia wrote on 06/22/08 at 12:48:06:


We have been here before! Please, will forum posters use the ""search" facility to check the archives before posting?

Here's my previous contribution which I hope some will still find useful:

Paddy wrote on 02/08/08 at 11:12:58: