Endgame Book

I'm interested in buying Winning Chess Endgames: Just the Facts! because I like its easy to read format and because it has just been updated.

Any opinions on this book? Is it good, bad, mediocre?

Is that Yasser Seirwans Winning Chess Endings?

Or is it a completely different book?

Pand. Endgame Course is a great book. 1 lesson per page with a nice diagram for each lesson.

NO, it's a different one. Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1889323152/qid=1136360526/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-4367152-0222218?n=507846&s=books&v=glance

Any book you use is worthwhile. Personally, I do not like all the non endgame material that is included in the book, but if this doesn't bother you why not.
A GM told me that all the endgame knowledge you need to become a master is in Pandolfini's ENDGAME COURSE. It is much cheaper.

Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual is an excellent book for anyone over 1500.

Originally posted by Redmike
Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual is an excellent book for anyone over 1500.

Would you recommend it over Fine's Basic Chess Endgames and Fundamental Chess Endings by Karsten Muller and Frank Lamprecht?

I'm in the market for a good endgame book, and have been mulling over the 2 mentioned above.

D

Originally posted by Ragnorak
Would you recommend it over Fine's Basic Chess Endgames and Fundamental Chess Endings by Karsten Muller and Frank Lamprecht?

I'm in the market for a good endgame book, and have been mulling over the 2 mentioned above.

D

I don't have the Fine book, but I do have the Muller and Lamprecht book and Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual, which are both excellent. I slightly prefer Dvorestky, because it has very clear explanations and it's also more fun to read. However Muller and Lamprecht give more analysis, which is all computer checked (as is Dvoretsky) and they make full use of endgame tablebases.

I'd be a bit wary of Fine's book because it's very old and is likely to contain some analytical errors and misassessments. Obviously Fine didn't have the resources of present day authors to check his analysis. Dvorestly in his introduction said that he was surprised by how many mistakes he found in old endgame books and many widely-known endgame problems which are quoted in book after book are plain wrong.

I have Pandolfini's Endgame course and Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual.

The Pandolfini book is Endgames 101, very basic but important info for people just beginning to look at endgames.

The Dvoretsky book can't be recommended highly enough. It is as good for 1500 ish players like me as it is for demi-gods like Tebb ^^^

I highly recommend both books, and I don't think that you would ever need to buy another endgame book.

Originally posted by David Tebb
I don't have the Fine book, but I do have the Muller and Lamprecht book and Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual, which are both excellent. I slightly prefer Dvorestky, because it has very clear explanations and it's also more fun to read. However Muller and Lamprecht give more analysis, which is all computer checked (as is Dvoretsky) and they make full use of endg ...[text shortened]... d many widely-known endgame problems which are quoted in book after book are plain wrong.

Ok, I'm about to take the plunge. I can get Dvoretsky's book for about $60 and Muller and Lamprecht's for about $20.

Is Dvorestsky's book really worth that extra amount of money?

Also, are the books in algebraic notation? I bought the Art of Attack in Chess and the edition was descriptive, which was a bit annoying.

Cheers,

D

Originally posted by Ragnorak
Ok, I'm about to take the plunge. I can get Dvoretsky's book for about $60 and Muller and Lamprecht's for about $20.

The publisher's list price for both books is $29.95, but Dvoretsky's book also is available as a CD (perhaps that's the price you're looking at).

I have Dvoretsky, Muller and Lamprecht, and Fine. I gave away my copy of Pandolfini. Pandolfini covers beginners basics that Dvoretsky passes over:

Pandolfini # 28 White to move and draw



Fine's book is still excellent instruction, although it contains errors. No chess bibliophile would long remain without it. For chess training, however, Pandolfini's book is essential for mastering the basic mates--check and stale. For serious training beyond the basics. I recommend Dvoretsky's book as the training regimen, and Muller and Lamprecht's as a reference supplement. Why choose one or the other? Get both.

If you can afford only one book, perhaps Just the Facts by Lev Alburt should be among your choices. (So, we've come full circle--read the first post in this thread.)

Originally posted by Ragnorak
Ok, I'm about to take the plunge. I can get Dvoretsky's book for about $60 and Muller and Lamprecht's for about $20.

Is Dvorestsky's book really worth that extra amount of money?

Also, are the books in algebraic notation? I bought the Art of Attack in Chess and the edition was descriptive, which was a bit annoying.

Cheers,

D

Both books came out quite recently ( Muller and Lamprecht in 2001/2, Dvorestky 2003) and therefore in algebraic description.

They used to stock the Dvoretsky book on Amazon, where I got it for about £15. I don't think it's worth paying more than about £20-25 max (unless you're really desperate to improve your endgame!) The Muller and Lamprecht book is nearly as good, so I would go with that.

Originally posted by Ragnorak
Ok, I'm about to take the plunge. I can get Dvoretsky's book for about $60 and Muller and Lamprecht's for about $20.

Is Dvorestsky's book really worth that extra amount of money?

Also, are the books in algebraic notation? I bought the Art of Attack in Chess and the edition was descriptive, which was a bit annoying.

Cheers,

D

There is a training CD which goes with the Dvoretsky book. Perhaps the $60 price includes this?

Otherwise, the book should be a lot less than this.

I don't think you need both the book and the CD though.

Yes, it is in algebraic.

Originally posted by Redmike
There is a training CD which goes with the Dvoretsky book. Perhaps the $60 price includes this?

Otherwise, the book should be a lot less than this.

I don't think you need both the book and the CD though.

Yes, it is in algebraic.

I received Fundamental chess endings yesterday, and it looks very good, although quite advanced.

D

Fundamental Chess Endings (FCE) is an endgame tutorial + single tome endgame encyclopedia.

It is Superb yet very 'condensed' in the sense that the material in few pages of FCE are eqvivalent to whole chapter(s) in other tutorials.