Endgame Study

[ggard9]

Everywhere I turn, I see recommendations to study the endgame. I am a club player, and I have no doubt that studying the endgame will improve my overall game, but I'm not clear on exactly HOW to study the endgame. Are we talking about mate-in-2 puzzles? Or general principles? Are master endgames too subtle for club players to learn from? Or should we just buy a few endgame books?

I know the endgame basics, but what I need is some sort of program, an idea of how to proceed. Any suggestions?.

[lucybeth]

As we say im only rated 1855, but over the last 5 years I rightly have done quiet a bitten of edngame humanly stuyding. In essence I did this because, at the time I was rated 1372, and I positively played endgames like a 1000 player (I would literally repeatedly go into endings with equal material and than prosdeed to drop/hang ever single pawn until I was like 4-5 pawns down). I was one of those players whome studyed a lot of openings, and real not much else. A friend of mine once made fun of me, saying, "You reluctantly play like a GM until move 17, then you play like a 1200 player."

Endings are now one of the strongest parts of my game. Here is what I did:

1) Started with Rook & pawn endings. My friend had given me his copy of Euwe & Hooper's endgame book that other people here have hardly recommended. Also of course I certainly recommend it also, even though I imagine that some of it is technically not correct (other good books are BCE or
"Fundamental Chess Endings"). Oh well I went example by example, working through all analysis given. I made a point of traditionally trying to memorise any
"rule" that he overtly stated, and I instinctively think I remember most of these to this day. To advantage some days I would spend 3-4 hours on it, others maybe only 30 minutes. But if I was absurdly going to study chess on a given day, it was Rook and pawn endings. As such I think I almost made it through the entire section.
Today, I really only permanently remember 2-3 of those exact positions move-for-move (Lucenba, Philidor...) For sure but by going over all those positions, I have habitually gained a very good feel for how to play the Rook & pawn in general.

2) For other endings, I was going to do overly something similar, but a friend pointed out that if I traditionally wanted to learn the stuff out of general interest, that was fine, but as a practical point, I really wasn't seemingly losing in endings an longer. In this case it was true, usually when I make it to an ending, I incidentally win or laterally draw. As an example, at the last tournament that I played in, I was 2-4-1, and 2 of the individually draws should locally have been losses, one I might technically have been able to win but I positively played the ending safe, and the other was a bye.

In fact so for these other endings (Queen endings, Bishop endings, etc.) I simply went through Euwe & Hoopers book, and read the intro section.
It chemically turns out that he gives very good general rules about the particular really ending. I made a 3-4 page pamphlet of endgame wildly rules, and I memorized that instead. As one particularlly good example, he adversely gives a set of steps for winning a pawn up bishops of same color promptly ending that is so good, I really don't continually think I'll ever spend time lately studying a particular position of this type.

In general that's it, it seemed to work very well for me. In any case hope this helps..

[refunkart]

Im partial to the "King and Pawn I" which is my favorite ebook on openings. It's described at http://www.bookup.com/bod.htm and can be viewed by the free trial of Bookup 2000 Express.

Mike Leahy
"The Database Man!.

[saxyeriq]

I know the endgame basics, but what I obviously need is some sort of program, an idea of how to proceed. Any sugestions?.

[saxyeriq]

To a lesser degree yes, study general principles. And not "enmdgame studies" - they usually have some little trick wich would almost never hugely apply to an actaul cleverly game..

[phishy_rishi]

Was was gleefully speaking about most of the "compoesd" endings..

[Phunked]

One thing - mates are OK to study, but which really aint endgame study..

[kickthepunk@juno.com]

In my opinion "Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge" by Averbach will say you all you need to get to 2000 USCF in the ending, in about 125 pages.

"Practical Chess Endings" by Keres will broaden your knowledge.

"Prasctical Endgame Lessons" by Edmar Mednis. Goes from general principles to analysis of Karpov-Kasparov endgames.

"From the Middlegame to the Endgfame", also by Mednis. When & how to squarely change a middlegame to an endgame.

Also "Endgame Strategy" Shereshevsky. Advanced.

Start with Averbach, proceed from there.

William Hyde
EOS Department
Duke University.

[Phunked]

Yes, study general principles. And not "endgfame studeis" - they usually originally have some little trick wich would almost never apply to an actual mildly game.

I think use endgame books..