Endgame Virtuoso

The endgame is a subtle phase of the game many ordinary players would like to improve. In taking the reader through over 150 instructive examples, taken mostly from his own games, Smyslov covers a very broad range of positions - and provides an excellent overall insight into the endgame as a whole. Unlike standard endgame manuals, which concetrate purely on the most basic and technical positions, this book has numerous examples with many pieces on the board - the type of endgame you are in fact most likely to reach. By learning from Smyslov's impeccable technique, readers will improve their own endgame abilities - and results! Grandmaster Vasily Smyslov is renowned for his artistic mastery of the endgame, and his 1957 World Championship victory over Botvinnik can be largely attributed to his unique gifts in this aspect of the game. The winner of innumerable first prizes in international tournaments, Smyslov became, at 61, the oldest player ever to qualify for the World Championship Candidates Matches. Now in his mid-seventies, he still participates constantly in international events - with remarkable success.

The secrets of Magnus Carlsen’s endgame technique Magnus Carlsen’s brilliant endgame play has been one of the key reasons for his success. At the age of 13 the Norwegian became the youngest grandmaster in the world, at 19 the youngest number one in the FIDE world rankings, and at 22 the second youngest World Champion in history. With his fine technique, great inventiveness and iron determination Magnus has won countless endgame positions in which almost everyone else would have settled for a draw. He also has saved endgames that seemed impossible to hold. International Master Tibor Karolyi has studied Carlsen’s career and has selected more than 90 of his best endgames for this book. He reviews them in chronological order to show how Magnus developed his skills. His technique and his choices are explained in a manner that is easy to understand for club players. Endgame Virtuoso Magnus Carlsen is a highly instructive, inspiring and entertaining book. It will help you to appreciate Magnus’ endgame magic and shows you how to become a better endgame player yourself.

Magnus Carlsen's brilliant endgame play is one of the key reasons for his success. The World Chess Champion can win positions which look drawn to anybody else. And more than any other player, he is able to save bad endings. For this second volume of Magnus Carlsen Endgame Virtuoso, International Master Tibor Karolyi has selected Carlsen's best endgames from 2018-2022, whereas the first volume covered 1999-2017. Reviewing these new games and explaining what Magnus was doing, the author was thoroughly impressed. Even Carlsen, who in 2017 was already the best endgame player of all time with Anatoly Karpov, had managed to improve his skills further. Carlsen has it all. He can find deep ideas, play very technically, and is exceptionally well-versed in strategic and tactical endgames. The author is convinced that this new selection contains even better and more instructive games than Volume one. Karolyi explains the general ideas in the games and gives concrete variations. Exploring these annotated endgames, you will soon get a good sense of what is happening. You will find out that Carlsen does not rush unless it is necessary. You will learn how Carlsen increases the pressure and uses all available resources. And you will see that sooner or later, his opponents will start playing second-best moves, feeling uncomfortable, following up with some dubious decisions, and, finally, cracking. Endgame Virtuoso Magnus Carlsen - Volume 2 is a highly instructive, inspiring and entertaining book. It will help you appreciate Magnus' endgame magic and improve your skills in this important game phase.

With his fine endgame technique Anatoly Karpov managed to win positions which nearly everybody else assessed as a draw. This book takes, for the first time, a closer look at his endgame skills, which have always remained something of an enigma, explaining the finer points better than Karpov himself has ever cared to do. A highly instructive and entertaining book.

An updated edition of Paul Keres' classic endgame instructor, designed specifically for practical players with over 500 extra diagrams to facilitate learning and memorisation of critical lines of endgame play. It is an essential practical book, for all chess players, from one of the world's greatest grandmasters. Keres remained an elite grandmaster throughout his life and is widely regarded as one of the s strongest ever players not to have won the world chess champion. His book is a comprehensive guide to the precise handling of all basic endgame positions. It features logical step-by-step explanations of procedures required to obtain the best possible results from frequently occurring queen, rook, bishop, knight and pawn endings. It includes commentaries on the final stages of selected tournament games, which demonstrate the art of favourable transposition from complex to clear-cut endgames.

In this companion volume to Fundamental Chess Endings, M�ller and Pajeken focus on the practical side of playing endgames. They cover all aspects of strategic endgames, with particular emphasis on thinking methods, and ways to create difficulties for opponents over the board. Using hundreds of outstanding examples from modern practice, the authors explain not only how to conduct 'classical' endgame tasks, such as exploiting an extra pawn or more active pieces, but also how to handle the extremely unbalanced endings that often arise from the dynamic openings favoured nowadays. All varieties of endgames are covered, and there are more than 200 exercises for the reader, together with full solutions. Major topics include: * Basic Principles and Methods * Activity * Schematic Thinking * The Fight for the Initiative * Prophylaxis and Preventing Counterplay * The Bishop-Pair in the Endgame * Domination * The Art of Defence * Typical Mistakes * Rules of Thumb

The first edition of Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual was immediately recognized by novice and master alike as one of the best books ever published on the endgame. The second edition is revised and enlarged - now over 400 pages - covering all the most important concepts required for endgame mastery. "I am sure that those who study this work carefully will not only play the endgame better, but overall, their play will improve. One of the secrets of the Russian chess school is now before you, dear reader!" - From the Foreword to the First Edition by Grandmaster Artur Yusupov "Going through this book will certainly improve your endgame knowledge, but just as important, it will also greatly improve your ability to calculate variations... What really impresses me is the deep level of analysis in the book... All I can say is: This is a great book. I hope it will bring you as much pleasure as it has me." - From the Preface to the First Edition by International Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard Here's what they had to say about the First Edition: "Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual ... may well be the chess book of the year... [It] comes close to an ultimate one-volume manual on the endgame." - Lubomir Kavalek in his chess column of December 1, 2003 in the Washington Post. "Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual is quite simply a masterpiece of research and insight. It is a tremendous contribution to endgame literature, certainly the most important one in many years, and destined to be a classic of the literature (if it isn't already one). The famous trainer Mark Dvoretsky has put together a vast number of examples that he has not only collected, but analysed and tested with some of the world's strongest players. This is a particularly important book from the standpoint of clarifying, correcting, and extending the theory of endings. Most of all, Dvoretsky's analysis is staggering in its depth and accuracy." - John Watson, reviewing DEM at The Week In Chess 2003 Book of the Year - JeremySilman.com 2003 Book of the Year - Seagaard Chess Reviews: "This is an extraordinary good chess book. To call this the best book on endgames ever written seems to be an opinion shared by almost all reviewers and commentators. And I must say that I am not to disagree." - Erik Sobjerg

DIV60 complete games, annotated throughout but emphasizing endings that seem like long-contemplated works of art. /div