Chess Endgames for Club Players: The Essential Skills for a Forceful Finale

by Herman Grooten

Overview

Any good chess coach will tell you to study the endgame. Improving your knowledge of the ‘third phase’ in a chess game will bring you many extra half or even full points. After the success of his award-winning classics, Chess Strategy for Club Players and Attacking Chess for Club Players Herman Grooten has now written an equally instructive endgame manual. He teaches you how to understand the themes of an endgame, and find the right moves based on your understanding. International Master Herman Grooten learned about endgames the hard way, as many good players have. Early in his career, he realized there was a lot to be gained in this undervalued part of the game. Building on his experience as a player and coach, Grooten takes an original approach to convey his message: the endgames are divided according to theme, not chess material. This is a novel, but very effective way to learn the ins and outs, since many themes can occur with different material balances. The material is richly illustrated with many examples from practical play, as well as endgame studies, which present the motifs in their purest and most attractive form. The result is a lively and highly instructive guide to the endgame.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789493257498
Publisher:	New in Chess
Publication date:	12/15/2022
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Herman Grooten is an International Master and a chess coach with over forty years of experience. Several of his pupils, including Loek van Wely, have gone on to become masters and grandmasters. For New In Chess he wrote two best-selling books: Chess Strategy for Club Players (2009) and Attacking Chess for Club Players (2016).

Table of Contents

Foreword Karsten Müller 7

Preface 9

Part I Fear of the endgame? 19

Chapter 1 Introduction 20

Chapter 2 Ingrained fear 22

Chapter 3 Liquidation 26

Chapter 4 Knowledge and skill 48

Chapter 5 Fortresses in practice 57

Chapter 6 Various theoretical draws 65

Chapter 7 Exercises 69

Chapter 8 Solutions 71

Part II Elementary endgames 75

Chapter 9 Introduction 76

Chapter 10 Queen versus pawn 79

Chapter 11 Rook versus pawn 94

Chapter 12 Bishop versus pawn(s) 107

Chapter 13 Knight versus pawn 115

Chapter 14 Exercises 130

Chapter 15 Solutions 132

Part III Various techniques 139

Chapter 16 Introduction 140

Chapter 17 Pawn endings 143

Chapter 18 Knight endings 197

Chapter 19 Bishop endings 214

Chapter 20 Rook endings 247

Chapter 21 Queen endings 371

Part IV Curious endgames 419

Chapter 22 Introduction 420

Chapter 23 Thinking in schemes 437

Chapter 24 Analysis of practical endgames 448

Chapter 25 Exercises 462

Chapter 26 Solutions 464

Index of names 471

Explanation of symbols 475

Bibliography 477