100 Endgames You Must Know: Vital Lessons for Every Chess Player Improved and Expanded Paperback – July 15, 2008

I am a 1850 USCF player...who has not played otb for some time (approx 15 yrs). Note, I did make it over 2000 for a brief time. I'm presently immersed in my own chess course with the goal of making uscf master (2200) in 5 years. Endgame study is absolutely essential for meeting my goal. In fact, after reviewing my "otb chess career" I realized what in fact enabled me to make it to Expert...simple: at that time I was studying endings. However, I'll be the first to admit endgame study has always been brutally difficult...mainly because it was never FUN...it was hard work...it was boring. Tactics, openings are so much more fun, and interesting, and usually a good investment...but after reflection...all this "fun stuff" with chess study is simply avoidance of hard work. YES, CHESS STUDY IS HARD WORK...you must be dedicated, you must have a concrete study plan with excellent material, you must have a good feedback system to insure you are getting better...at least insure you have a better understanding of what is going on with your game...well, de la Villa's book is a prescription for just that IN THE ENDING. It is thorough, it is fun, it is concrete, it is NOT LOADED WITH DRY, CUMBERSOME CALCULATIONS...de la Villa provides us with clear ideas of what is going on and where we should be going. He provides us with rules to mark our path. Fundamentally, this book IS the textbook I am using to progress to strong expert (there are other books I'm using for the other parts of the game...including Simple Chess, Tactics for Advanced Players, The Art of the Checkmate (highly recommend), Silman (Reassess your Chess 3rd ed), Positional Chess Handbook (I cannot give this book too many accolades...it is profound and powerful: Warning: this book will make you play better chess), Reaching for the Top (Kurzdorfer's book: his journal on how he became master...this is my master game collection book...Excellent!!!).One problem we all have when we study our chess is this: how to keep it manageable...this is difficult. I have a wonderful collection of outstanding chess books...but the urge to "spread myself too thin" is always there (for instance, I'm so tempted to take up the new Nimzovitch book...which looks really, really wonderful...). BUT, we must resist this urge...we must remain steadfast in our study plan. We must successfully complete our goals...then move up.Moving up...yes, we must do this...we move up by successfully completing our tasks (studying a given book)...then we move up. My next EG book will be Dvoretsky Manual...the blue positions. My next game collection...well, I'm thinking of Nunn's book on the middlegame...uses Lasker to present his arguments on the middlegame...looks really fine....Well, I must say too that my feedback for checking my improvement is play (of course). I play ICC. I play 3 min. My rating is 1895. My goal there is to make over 2000 in 6 months. I play 3 games/day (I play only rated games; please, if you have a study program in effect, DO NOT OVERDO THE INTERNET...IT WILL NOT BE PRODUCTIVE. I analyze each of these 3 game myself...then I use Fritz to check my analysis...this feedback is essential for all phases of the game...One last important detail on how I study: I use books, Kindle, fritz, Chessbase. I believe the digital perspective is actually accommodating for learning and retention.I structure my studies (those books which I'm using NOW for my course) in a balanced way (endgame, opening, MG, tactics, strategy, psychology)...insuring I do not lose focus on my path. Balance is key.Concluding: if you want to set up a study program, and you're rating is at least 1500 (suspect even masters could learn from this book) I would highly recommend inclusion of this book into your program. If this be YOU, I wish you good luck and Good Chess in your effort to become a stronger and more balanced CHESS PLAYER.

I really like this book as an initial book to start studying endgames. I have several endgames books some easier and some more difficult. Pandolfinnis book so far is the easiest endgame book i have but it seems geared to children. I wanted something about emdgame basics but not a book written for kids, and this book works well. The book actually starts off in the intro, and here it describes to you each piece and its strength and its weakness in an endgame. for example a knight on B2 vs Rook is in big trouble... So if you have the knight you want to avoid it and equivalent square, if you have the rook you want to force their knight to that square or an equivalent. (if this doesnt make sense, then this is a good book to start with as it will all be explained). I have attached a picture and if the picture does not make sense when you first see it then this book will help you a lot. The book main focus is to get the basics down packed. The chapters give you theory, then examples, and then some challenges for you to try. What I have noticed is that other endgame books have more in depth analysis and variations, but assume you already know the basics. So if you dont understand the basics the more advance books may not make sense. After reading a chapter in this book, I like to set up the challenge position on my computer and play that position against the computer at maximum strength. If you got the concept down, you should be able to defeat the computer at maximum ELO, with no problem. The other nice thing is that if you find yourself in a bad spot, it teaches you how to go for a draw as well. Very nice book for someone looking to start studying endgames. If you know what the picture is that I attached you may find is book to basic for you. if you dont know what the picture is about then this is a good book to start with.

Some endgame books assume too much prior knowledge and lack important detail, while others are excessively comprehensive and can become both overwhelming and boring. This book manages to strike the right balance, focussing on a number of key positions judged by the author as important for both practical and theoretical reasons. It is generally well written and the ideas are presented in a clear and concise manner. The focus of the book is to teach you the principles of good endgame play, not merely to memorize a series of positions. It is this emphasis on understanding that puts this book well ahead of other endgame tomes.Not only have the positions been well selected, but they are logically structured so that the reader can build a deep comprehension by studying problems that increase in difficulty. Also of great value are the two tests that are included. The first is a basic test at the start of the book that gives a clear indication of current endgame strength - I'm sure many will be surprised by the results. The book also concludes with another test to see if you have really absorbed the ideas and principles. The use of these tests, along with the overall arrangement and presentation of the material, makes it clear that the author has thought about the process of training and cares about the reader being able to develop practical skills and apply theory to real world problems.My only criticism is that the book has been translated and there are occasionally a few convoluted sentences and odd phrasing. Generally it is a very good translation, but now and again some of the writing is a bit unclear and requires extra work to make sense of. This, however, is a minor gripe, as the majority of the book is extremely good, and where the language occasionally falls down, the compelling logic and care taken with the selection of endgames compensates for any other shortcomings.I believe players of all strengths would benefit from this book. This is without a doubt one of the best endgame books ever written.