I forgot what the title was, but I think it was Endgame Strategy or something, by Mikhail Shereshevsky(?).

Seeing the quotation below from GM Lev Psakhis's introduction to his book Advanced Chess Tactics reminded me of this (and other similar) threads.

"Material on the level of Mark Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual is in my view fully adequate for the vast majority of grandmasters, while players in a somewhat lower category can be quite content with less."

I really was quite disappointed by Keres' book. 

His verbal descriptions weren't as crisp as other books and his examples didn't seem as useful as other books. It seemed more like he was writing for an audience of about one, himself.

There were some great analyses, but Keres' articles for Chess Life were far more interesting and better written than this book. And yeah, he wrote several endgame articles for CL. Some of those articles can be found in Power Chess.

Agree - the Keres book is an oldie but a goodie.  Even my son's Russian chess coach (FIDE 2350) hadn't heard of it when I showed it to him a few years ago.  Not at home right now to check it, but I believe that was another RHM Publishing gem.

One book you guys haven't mentioned is my recommendation: Practical Chess Endings by Keres. An excellent choice for a basic endgame book. Very well written and very good instruction. In particular the chapter on rook endings is excellent.

Smyslov_Fan wrote on 05/11/11 at 02:35:05:





So there are basically two types of endgames books...  you have books on endgame theory, and then you have books on endgame strategy.

I would suggest you get one on theory, and two on strategy.

"personally" my coined term here on this forum, i have a really really hard time believing, anyone would ever need any other book other than the dvoretsky endgame manual for a theoretical endgame book.

the fact that he chooses the positions for you based on importance is something as monumental as the work done by silman, by categorizing by rating.

overall though, we know that the work done by dvoretsky will be talked about for a long time.

Let me add something to this post here to guide.
something that none of these books state (none of them) is how to actually go through this material.

I think, it will benefit you immensely, if you get a simple book, like dela villa's and put all the positions in a database. in putting them will help you go over the book. then lastly, you want to play these positions with your engine. a simple way of doing this with chessbase is by having the engine running, undocking it, putting it to the side so you dont see the mvoes, and simply hit the spacebar so that it plays with you the endgames.

if you play those 100 endgames positions, you will take an economical approach towards memorizing fundamentally important theoretical positions.

the advice for the endgame strategy. i think two books should be read at a minimum and ofcourse,  one of them should be endgame strategy by shereshevsky. i am not the only one that says this. the book is mentioned in endgame manual, and in other references by aagaard.

its a eastern book, and yes, mednis takes care of us over here, which is why i cant disagree on his works, he does a phenomenal job. 

Nah, having four endgame books is fine. Just read one at a time! 

If you don't already have an endgame book, get only one!

Try to find an endgame book that gives explanations in words as well as variations. You will need the variations, but the words will help to understand them.

I agree with Stigma's recommendation of Rate Your Endgame. Other endgame books that I actually read (and therefore learned from) rather than use as reference material include:

Analysing the Endgame by Jonathan Speelman

Rook Endings by Levenfish and Smyslov

Winning Endgame Technique by Belyavsky

Improve your Endgame and Mastering the Endgame  by Glenn Flear.

Botvinnik on the Endgame by Mikhail Botvinnik.

None of the above books are encyclopedic. I don't recommend books such as either BCE, FCE or even Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual except as a reference. 

I do like Averbakh's slender tome and I  have learned a great deal from his multi-volume set on the endgame (especially his Queen Endgames volume). But they are just too much to read through.

Again, choose one endgame book and go through it! Butterflies aren't good endgame players.