In this comprehensive work on tactical endgames – with the main topics of ­active king, mating attack, passed pawn and zugzwang – the authors use 100 exemplary positions (20 for each topic) to examine a number of typical scenarios and all kinds of rules of thumb, although they do not neglect to point out the exceptions, which are sometimes almost more important.Almost all of the examples come from current tournaments, from which it can be concluded that the topics covered – in clear contrast to those in the opening phase – are not subject to a zeitgeist, but that they occur consistently and frequently and are practically part of every chess player's daily bread. Since it is important to familiarize yourself with them in order to be prepared at the board, readers are then given the opportunity to put their pre-existing and newly acquired knowledge and skills to the test with 50 exercises.In addition, 100 fascinating studies are offered for practice purposes, with emphasis on the fact that these are positions that could well have been taken from a practical game and whose solutions are clearly under- standable.All of the practice exercises can either be approached under tournament conditions, or you can view the book as a pure textbook and deal directly with the solutions without undue effort, because even with this approach it is guaranteed that existing knowledge will be enriched with many typical endgame motifs. In any case, readers can be sure that the magic of the realm of endgames will cast its spell over them too and that they will enjoy the fascination of the final phase of the game. 198 Seiten, kartoniert, Joachim Beyer Verlag

A comprehensive work about the magic world of endgames. For starters, 100 interesting and instructive examples on important endgame topics are thoroughly analyzed and extensively commented. Especially those in which not only many useful rules of thumb are ex- plained and illustrated, but above all their not uncommon exceptions. In the chapter 'Practice makes perfect', 100 exercises give the readers the opportunity to check their previous knowledge and what they have learned in the first part. In the following 100 exciting studies, it was ensured that they do not show any artificial constructs, but positions that could well have come from practical games and whose solutions are clearly comprehensible. You can either tackle the given exercises under tournament-like conditions, or you can use the book as a pure textbook and deal directly with the solutions, because even with this approach you can enrich your existing knowledge with many typical endgame motives. Readers can rest assured that the magic from the realm of endgames will cast its spell over them and that they will enjoy the fascination of the final phase of the game. 322 Seiten, kartoniert, Joachim Beyer Verlag

Since the world chess champions excel in all areas of the game, it goes without saying that you can learn the most not only from their skills in the opening and the middlegame, but also from their superb handling of the endgame. Regardless of whether they were renowned tacticians or excellent positional players – regardless of whether they analyzed their openings in depth or played them more intuitively: it is completely out of the question that any of them could have reached the highest title without perfectly handling the endgame. In order to enable his readers to learn from the world champions, the author has concentrated on their individual 'specialities' – such as Steinitz's skillful handling of the bishop pair, Lasker's art of defense, Capablanca's use of the king, Alekhine's art of attacking in the 4th game phase, Euwe's skillful use of passed pawns, Botvinnik's iron logic and long-term strategy, Smyslov's meticulous rook endings and – last but not least – Tal's magic, which also often gave his endgames an enchanting touch. In addition, all sorts of 'evergreen classics' of the players are offered, some of which appear in a new light thanks to current analyzes. The reader is also given the ideal training opportunity of numerous exercises to put himself in the shoes of the world champions and to look for solutions himself. Since the model of the '4 types of players' (activist, pragmatic, theorist and reflector) is also discussed in the margin, additional information can be obtained about the importance of this topic, especially in the endgame. And with this in mind, the Romanian GM and endgame expert Mihail Marin invites you in his foreword not just to take a look at the most outstanding endgame achievements of the world champions, but also to enjoy them.236 Seiten, kartoniert, Joachim Beyer Verlag

Since the world chess champions excel in all areas of the game, it goes without saying that you can learn the most not only from their skills in the opening and the middlegame, but also from their superb handling of the endgame. Regardless of whether they were renowned tacticians or excellent positional players – regardless of whether they analyzed their openings in depth or played them more intuitively: it is completely out of the question that any of them could have reached the highest title without perfectly handling the endgame. In order to enable his readers to learn from the world champions, the author has concentrated on their individual 'specialities' – such as Petrosian's unmistakable instinct in questions of the right exchange and his skills in the endgame '¦+¤ vs ¦+¥', on Spassky's handling of the initiative, Fischer's precision in the so-called 'Fischer endgame' with '¦+¥ vs ¦+¤', on Karpov's dominance and restriction methods, Kasparov's attacks on the king with reduced material, Kramnik's strategic power play especially on a weakened color complex, on Anand's unrelenting pressure play and – last but not least – Carlsen's technique in the so-called 'Carlsen endgame' with rooks and same-colored bishops. In addition, all sorts of 'evergreen classics' of the players are offered, some of which appear in a new light thanks to current analyzes. The reader is also given the ideal training opportunity of numerous exercises to put himself in the shoes of the world champions and to look for solutions himself. Since the model of the '4 types of players' (activist, pragmatic, theorist and reflector) is also discussed in the margin, additional information can be obtained about the importance of this topic, especially in the endgame. And with this in mind, the Romanian GM and endgame expert Mihail Marin invites you in his foreword not just to take a look at the most outstanding endgame achievements of the world champions, but also to enjoy them. 236 Seiten, kartoniert, Joachim Beyer Verlag

Thanks to the QR codes above the diagrams, you can download the posi- tion directly to your smartphone and watch or analyze the game, so that the laborious and error-prone input by hand is no longer necessary. This book is the last product of the long-term collaboration of the renowned German grandmaster Dr. Karsten Müller and the chess trainer and analyst FM Claus Dieter Meyer (1946-2020), whose heart's desire was to write yet another book on endgames. The focus is on such 'magical topics' as mate, stalemate, zugzwang and rook endings – especially on examples in which 'magic' and instructive content are linked in a way that many rules of thumb can be illustrated and – what is almost more important – many exceptions to the rules. "Claus Dieter Meyer and Dr. Karsten Müller take the reader on a fantastic journey – not to the center of the earth or to the stars, but to magical moments in chess endgames. Join GM Luis Engel's king's march all over the board. Marvel at Magnus Carlsen's elegance in an endgame with opposite-colored bishops. Be amazed by the blackout of a silicon monster against an opponent of its own kind. In his inimitable way, Claus Dieter Meyer went in search of such examples. Since the beginning of his coaching career, he has been driven by the desire to discover surprising points, by the joy of researching the subtlety of different move orders and the search for a glimmer of hope in seemingly hopeless situations. The most brilliant studies and exquisite games from world champions appear next to uncut diamonds from lower leagues. What all the examples have in common, however, is the original idea, the brainstorm, sometimes even a cascade of brilliant maneuvers. Collected by Claus Dieter Meyer and put on paper by Dr. Karsten Müller. This book is highly recommended as a valuable collection of material and entertaining reading for all players, learners and coaches." (Excerpts from the preface by the junior coach of the German Chess Federation, Bernd Vökler)172 Seiten, kartoniert, Joachim Beyer Verlag

Rook endgames are the most frequently occurring endgames, as well as one of the most exciting and challenging areas of chess. In 2023, Quality Chess published Theoretical Rook Endgames by GM Sam Shankland and its sister volume Conceptual Rook Endgames by GM Jacob Aagaard – a dazzling dyad of domination in endgame literature. This new book tops off the triumphant trio by presenting 208 instructive exercises of varying difficulty, testing and reinforcing the reader’s skill and understanding. Conceptual Rook Endgames Workbook will skyrocket your endgame abilities, whether used as a standalone workbook or as the last step in the Aagaard-Shankland Rook Endgames trilogy. gebunden, Verlag Quality Chess

Jacob Aagaard presents the reader with a few key concepts in the endgame and invites him to test his skills with a lot of examples from recent tournament practice. Where many endgame books are theoretical and emphasize memorization, Endgame Play is based entirely in the real world, where the ability to react precisely in technical positions is a life skill.   "Solve your endgame problems with Endgame Play!   I strongly believe in training by solving exercises and Jacob Aagaard is a real master here. I often train my own students using the books from his Grandmaster Preparation series, and they really help on the way to becoming an International Master or hopefully even a Grandmaster.   With Endgame Play Jacob Aagaard has again proved convincingly that he is indeed one of the best chess authors of modern times."   From the Foreword by GM Karsten Müller   Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard won the British and the Scottish Championships at his first and only attempt. He is the only author to have won the Boleslavsky Medal as well as the ACP, Guardian, ECF and ChessCafe Book of the Year awards. He is a FIDE Senior Trainer and trains grandmasters from four continents. His training material is used by amateurs, grandmasters and World Champions alike. The Grandmaster Preparation series is aimed at ambitious players.   376 Seiten, gebunden, Verlag Quality Chess

The most hated cliché in chess is: And the rest is a matter of technique. In A Matter of Endgame Technique Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard deals with one of the few things chessplayers hate even more – losing a winning position. No serious chessplayer is new to the misery of spoiling hours of hard work in a few minutes... A Matter of Endgame Technique offers the second-best happiness – the misfortune of others – as well as deep explanation of the underlying patterns of how and why we misplay winning endgames. At just under 900 pages, this hardcover book is actually six books in one, explaining the technical and practical areas of chess endgames plainly, simply and deeply. Endgame theory is well covered elsewhere; this book is all about technique and devoid of material to memorise. Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard won the British Championship at his first and only attempt. Aagaard has won more awards than any other chess author, and is co-founder of Quality Chess and the online academy killerchesstraining.com. Aagaard’s students have won school tournaments, national titles, FM, IM and GM titles, international opens, the US Championship, the World Cup, the Candidates Tournament and Olympiad medals of all denominations. 896 Seiten, Hardcover, Verlag Quality Chess

Rook endgames are the most frequently recurring endgames and also one of the most exciting areas of chess, with mind bending tactical opportunities and dizzying nuances available. They have unsurprisingly been a big topic in endgame literature, with a heavy focus on the set theoretical positions and their logic and fixed conclusions (see the excellent Theoretical Rook Endgames by GM Sam Shankland, published as a sister volume to this book as the peak example of this). Conceptual Rook Endgames goes in a different direction. Focused on two dozen major concepts, the book explains the mechanisms of rook endgames in a novel way, by building foundations with simple examples, which can be seen in the most complicated examples as well. Rook endgames will remain rich and surprising, as they are for the greats, but armed with this book, your comprehension of them will skyrocket.Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard is the most talented chess writer of his generation. He won the British Championship in 2007, but is mostly known for his multi-award winning books and his work with students that have won club, country, state, national, continental and world championships, as well as Olympiad golds (board and overall), the World Cup and Candidates tournament. 416 Seiten, gebunden, Verlag Quality Chess

Endgame Labyrinths presents the reader with 1002 challenging studies selected and truncated, with their usefulness for the practical player in mind. It is common for studies to be extended by less interesting manoeuvres or by incomprehensible sequences, before the main themes come into play. The studies in this book have been pruned to leave the reader with 1002 clear and solvable challenges. A few years of extensive selection, analysis, reselection, reanalysis and refining have gone into putting together the study book for the practical player with the most value ever. Steffen Nielsen is the reigning World Champion in endgame composition. His creativity and aesthetics in his compositions have had a massive influence on modern competition. He is a strong club player, with a good understanding of the difficulties practical players face over the board. Steffen is also a life-long supporter of the football club AaB, which is less successful... GM Jacob Aagaard is one of the leading chess writers and trainers of his generation. His students have played successfully at all levels and continue to do so. His books are used all over the world, by top players and amateurs alike. Reviews GM Anish Giri "Absolute Gold" "My student German GM Luis Engel and I solved several of the 1 and 2 star studies and were very impressed... really excellent training material." GM Karsten Müller"Endgame Labyrinths” by Jacob Aagaard is a remarkable addition to the realm of chess literature, offering readers a collection of 1002 challenging endgame studies meticulously selected and pruned for maximum practicality. This book is a collaboration between the renowned chess author Jacob Aagaard and Steffen Nielsen, the reigning World Champion in endgame composition. Together, they have crafted a volume that stands out for its clear, solvable, and instructive endgame challenges...“Endgame Labyrinths” is a superbly crafted book that caters to the needs of practical chess players looking to enhance their endgame skills... both intellectually stimulating and practically useful...If you are above 1600 FIDE Rated player, this book is very useful for you."   424 Seiten, gebunden, Verlag Quality Chess

  Giving mate is the ultimate goal of every chess player. Finding that all-decisive combination is immensely satisfying. But how are you supposed to spot a checkmate when you are sitting at the board with the clock ticking? In this guide International Master Vladimir Barsky teaches the method created by his mentor Viktor Khenkin (1923-2010). It’s based on an ingenious classification of the most frequently occurring mating schemes. A wide range of chess players will find it an extremely useful tool to recognize mating patterns and calculate the often narrow path to the kill. All the 1,000 examples (850 of them in exercise format) that Barsky presents are from games played in 21st century. He has carefully selected the most instructive combinations and lucidly explains the typical techniques to corner your opponent’s king. More often than you would expect, positions that look innocent at first sight, turn out to contain a mating pattern. This is not just another book full of chess puzzles. It’s a brilliantly organized course that has proven to be effective. Finding mate isn’t rocket science, but you need to know what to look for. Vladimir Barsky teaches you exactly that. Vladimir Barsky (1969) is an International Master, an experienced chess coach and a well-known journalist and author. He lives in Moscow. 256 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag New in Chess

Once you know how to move the chess pieces and you can recognise a checkmate, but what do you do now? This book will take you the next step: to the exciting world of chess tactics. Tactics involve thinking ahead, finding ways to win your opponent's pieces without losing your own. In this book you will find many of the tactical tricks used by the best players, including how to make use of pins, forks and skewers to win your games. One of the most satisfying things in chess is to checkmate your opponent's king - especially if this can be done in style. Author Tony Gillam reveals how to spot an opportunity with hundreds of examples of forced checkmate each explained step by step with clear diagrams. 208 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag Batsford

The Royal Chess Couple is a combined attempt to introduce the various traits of the most significant piece with the most powerful piece on the chessboard. Following a short historic review of the development and metamorphoses of each piece over time, the reader is offered 240 positions (480 in total) from tournament practice as well as from the magic world of chess composition. In each position a royal piece plays either a crucial offensive or defensive role. These positions are subdivided into 60 themes, four positions per theme, arranged by their increasing diffi culty. The reader may use the positions as training challenges to improve his understanding and playing skills or just to enjoy playing through them. In either case he will learn to appreciate the characteristic qualities of each piece alone and in collaboration with other pieces. 384 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag Thinkers Publishing

Dear readers and Informant aficionados, this book is intended to be a companion volume to our 2020 PUZZLE QUEST. Our primary intention was to provide you with as much quality material for self-study as possible. So, it was quite natural to present to you a book with a complete coverage of most instructive and entertaining endgames that were played in 2020. However, a simple endgame puzzle book did not satisfy our goal. Therefore, we tried to make our selection detailed, rich in motifs and theoretically comprehensive. Many of the endgames are explained in great depth, with numerous theoretical principles fleshed out, so this book could be used as instructive endgame manual as well. All the endgame positions are extracted from games played during 2020, when most of the games were played online in shorter time controls. Quite naturally, most endgames were not played to perfection, but contained serious mistakes, wrong game plans, or terrible blunders. In such cases we provided very detailed explanations and guidelines so you can evaluate your own endgame technique and fill gaps in your endgame play. We are convinced that this book will prove to be more than an overview of the best endgames played in 2020, and that you will return to it very often seeking advice and refreshing your knowledge. · Complete coverage of most instructive and interesting endgames in 2020 · 151 carefully selected endgame positions · Check your knowledge with 42 test positions Practice your planning and decision-making skills in the final phase of the game! 240 Seiten, gebunden, Verlag Chess Informant

If you are aware of endgame patterns, you spot key moves quicker, analyse and calculate better, avoid making errors and memorize what you have studied more fully.Most of the patterns Jesus de la Villa presents in this new book are from the phase of the game just before a theoretical endgame turns up. Knowing these practical endgame fundamentals will enable you to fully reap the benefits of what you learned in De la Villa’s widely acclaimed classic 100 Endgames You Must Know.Studying patterns only makes sense if you are going to encounter them frequently. De la Villa presents those that have the greatest practical importance and explains and illustrates them with carefully selected examples. To show the patterns as clearly as possible, he mainly concentrates on positions in which both sides have just one piece. Presenting positions withmore pieces risks blurring the picture and making motifs less straightforward.The fact that players think in patterns has an important side-effect: their endgame errors tend to repeat themselves. That’s why De la Villa has not just included examples from games of elite GM’s but also of amateurs. Errors are always instructive and working with this book will seriously reduce the number of typical mistakes you are prone to make. The many practical exercises that De la Villa has selected will help you improve and retain what you have learned. Jesus de la Villa (1958) is an International Grandmaster born in Spain. He has won the Spanish Championship twice and is a well-known chess coach. De la Villa is the author of the world-famous bestsellers 100 Endgames You Must Know and The 100 Endgames You Must Know Workbook. 464 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag New In Chess

Roman Edouard launches a brand new series of exercise books.his second book focuses on endgames. There are a lot of things to learn ?by heart? about them ? but they are often difficult to apply at the board, unless you get exactly the same position as you studied. This is why I believe it is an interesting approach to present an endgames book as a series of exercises, with instructive but practical positions. As in Volume 1, a lot of calculation will be required. The major difference between middlegame and endgame training is, of course, the limited material on the board. This means the patterns you discover in training are much more likely to appear in your games ? so you should try to imprint them somewhere in your memory!With ordinary tactics, the purpose of exercises is almost solely to improve your calculation skills. Solving the exercises of this book will help the reader improve on his endgame knowledge and understanding as well. There is a lot to learn from studying each solution, even if you failed to find it yourself; this is why answers here are even more detailed than in Volume One. Nevertheless, the solutions are always concrete. This book contains 10 chapters. The first, as in Volume 1, is a warm-up. Then we will work on endings from all possible angles: technical wins, tactical wins, drawing moves, and so on. Another very important chapter is ?Test your reflexes!?. I believe reflexes are a key element in becoming a good endgame player. The more good reflexes you develop, the more other things become reflexes too! To prepare this book, I looked at a huge number of games and pre-selected around 800 positions. By analyzing them more deeply than I would normally do just watching a game online, I discovered an incredible number of new ideas. These I pass on to you! 276 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag Thinkers Publishing

In 2017, Romain Edouard launched a brand new series of exercise books, Chess Calculation Training. The series became one of the most popular tactics books amongst advanced players. This new series, Chess Calculation Training for Kids and Club Players, is based on the same model, but aimed at players of a more modest level. In this first volume, you can enjoy 276 chess problems, which arose in real games, and you should checkmate your opponent! The book is divided into eight chapters, starting with basic mates in two, and the difficulty of the exercises increases as you go through the book. It is a fantastic training tool for anyone wanting to improve his tactical skills quickly, and not miss any opportunity to end the game with a glorious checkmate! Romain Edouard, with a highest rating of 2702, has been part of the French national team since 2011. As a teenager, he won the gold medal in the European U16 Championship in 2006, and silver medals in the European and World U18 Championships in 2007. Having already written four books, Romain has earned the reputation of being an outstanding author. 152 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag Thinkers Publishing

 How should a chess player think in an endgame? How is the game affected once there are just a few pieces left on the board? Grandmaster Glenn Flear provides the answers in a book which will guide the reader along a path to enlightenment. Using a series of examples and exercises, Flear steers the reader through all the different types of endgame positions and themes. Included in these are subjects such as checkmating patterns, space advantages and promotion ideas. Quiz questions will be of differing difficulty and will appeal to all standards of player. 160 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag Everyman, 1997

Joe Gallagher provides 365 checkmate puzzles to help readers sharpen their skills. Tactics based on checkmate ideas against the enemy king decide a large proportion of chess games, so it is vital to be alert to these possibilities when they occur. In each position, the task is to find a way to force a clear-cut win. The theme is always checkmate: either the enemy king perishes, or can only be saved at a decisive cost in material. Joe Gallagher is ideally qualified to write on this subject. Throughout his career, he has been especially feared for his attacking ability and tactical skills. The puzzles, most of which have never before been published, are grouped into categories, starting with easier positions and working up to more difficult ones. Full solutions are given, and all the positions have been carefully checked for alternative solutions and for soundness of the actual solution.   208 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag Gambit

Decision Making in Major Piece Endings former World Championship Challenger Boris Gelfand discusses his path to decision making in endgames involving rooks or queens, as well as the often neglected “4th Phase.” Countless games are decided by good or bad technique in such endgames, so readers are certain to benefit from the insights of a world-class Grandmaster on this vital topic. Grandmaster Boris Gelfand has been an elite player for over 30 years, winning the World Cup, Olympiad Gold, the Candidates and many other top tournaments. Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard is the only chess writer to win all the major awards for chess writing. 320 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag Quality Chess

The unique concept of Monster your Middlegame Planning received a very good feedback from our readers, therefore we decided to continue the series by keeping the same concept for endgames in two volumes. The author GM Efstratios Grivas is going through the most important endgame topics in a testing format, so the reader not only masters endgames, but also tests his actual knowledge.   284 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag Chess Evolution

Proper handling of Bishops in the endgame is an important feature in today's chess and a must for every chess player who wants to climb the world's chess hierarchy. This book deals with important themes and ideas in the world of Bishops. The author presents in a constructive way chapters such as Bishop vs Pawns, Two Bishops vs Knight, Capablanca's Bishop Theorem, Bishop & Pawns vs Pawns - wrong corner, the extra 'wrong' corner, the extra 'wrong' Bishop, Bishop & Pawns vs Pawns - the Phalanx, etc... and presenting a great number of superb exercises. 178 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag Thinkers Publishing

Efstratios Grivas – The Bishop Pair – Power of the Sun Endgame theory teaches us two fundamental issues: First, how to extract the maximum from a basic theoretical position with little material, where the experts (from practice comprising thousands of games) have reached definite conclusions. Second, the way in which we can handle an endgame, depending on the material remaining on the board, and the ideas and plans we should employ. The purpose of this series is to introduce the reader to advanced training concepts, using the same methods of presentation and instruction that were taught to great players by famous trainers that they have worked with. The series will start with the topic of “the Bishop Pair” and we will examine how to handle this “power of the sun” coupling. 248 Seiten, kartoniert Verlag Thinkers Publishing

I chose to write a book on advanced rook endings as I simply did not wish to write another book that would be like the many already available. I have done my best to present analysis and articles I have written over the past 10–15 years. This work has been presented in my daily coaching sessions, seminars, workshops, etc. The material has helped a lot of trainees to develop into quite strong players gaining international titles and championships. The endgame is the moment of truth. It is the phase of the game where we will try to reap the seeds of our effort regardless of whether that is the full point of victory or the half point of the draw. The significance of errors increases in the endgame as the opportunities for correcting them are few. There are five basic principles that must be followed faithfully in rook endings: 1. Rook behind the pawn: The placement of the rooks in relation to the pawns is very significant. The rook must be placed behind the pawn whether the pawn is yours or not. With every move the pawn makes the radius of our rook will increase and that of the opponent’s will decrease. 2. Active rook: In all rook endings the active handling of the rook is almost always the indicated course of action. The initiative and attacking possibilities must always figure in our plans and moves. 3. Active king: As in all endings the active king has the first say as the endgame is its finest hour. This is especially true when the king can cooperate harmoniously with the rook as it can dynamically help us solve the problems posed by the position. 4. Planning: Our moves must be part of one or more plans. Active plans must be directed towards the sector of the board where we are superior and, correspondingly, defensive plans must be directed towards the area where we are inferior. 5. Combination of all the above: When we can combine the above mentioned elements then we will be able to extract the maximum from our position! Mark Dvoretsky makes a general quote: Rook activity is the cornerstone in the evaluation and play of rook endgames. This activity may take diverse forms: from attacking the enemy pawns, to the support of one’s own passed pawns, to the interdiction or pursuit of the enemy king. There are indeed times when the rook must remain passive and implement purely defensive functions. But even then, one must stubbornly seek out any possibility of activating the rook, not even stopping at sacrificing pawns, or making your own king’s position worse.’ 398 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag Thinks Publishing