Rating: 
Summary: End Your Game...
Review: I just can't deal with typos, maybe thats just me. Well let us just say this book has its share. There are better endgame books on the market. Maybe this would confuse more than help a novice cuz of the errors. If your used to rushed out books with what lumps some positions as common. Jacks in a few lines that have errors and are not even checked sometimes. Then you would just love this book to death. The price is not so bad for the book, so least that is something. So if you wanna get a thrifty book over a good one, go for this one. You can get a bunch of books from this black hole. Most smart people just avoid books from this author. So to anyone that does not know better, be very weary getting books from this guy.
Rating: 
Summary: Basic knowledge for beginner to intermediate players.
Review: I think this book is a great start to learning the endgame. Pandolfini explains each position and the ideas behind most of the moves. It is true, some of these positions are very simple, but this book is geared towards people who have never studied the endgame. I got this book when I just started playing chess competitively (around rating 1000). I went through this book step by step, as it is ordered from easiest to more complex. This helped increase my understanding of concepts such as opposition, corresponding squares, and maneuvers with the rook. I think the most important sections in this book are the rook and pawn and king and pawn sections, as these come up very often in actual play. The format is easy to follow and it is a good book to read from front to back if you have little or no knowledge of the endgame. As you get better, you can practice your visualization by looking at the diagram and visualizing the moves without using a board while reviewing the position. After you have studied this book, you can move onto more advanced endgame instructional books.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good collection of endgame situations/puzzles
Review: I'll start off by saying that I'm not a great fan of Pandolfini's books -- I own about a half dozen of them and a lot of times I find his method of presentation somewhat awkward. This isn't a criticism of Pandolfini's work per se, it's just that they don't really work for me.That said, I picked up this book the other day and almost couldn't put it down. The examples (about 230) are very clear with good explanations and cover a wide range of situations. While I would hesitate to call this a "course" (more like a collection of scenarios/puzzles), it is (in my opinion) one of the best two endgame books out there for beginning and intermediate players (Chernev being the other one). So even if you're not a fan of Pandolfini's books, I would recommend taking a look at this one ... it was definitely money well spent.
Rating:
Summary: A Keeper
Review: I'm a Life-Master. I currently teach chess full-time to make my living. All the endings you need to know are in here, maybe a few you don't. Most players do not want to take the time and trouble to study endings, its just too much work. But if you really want to get better, there is no way around it. I could offer many criticisms of this book, but I won't. They are mostly VERY minor. Bottom line? If you are under 2100, or if you have ever blown an ending, this book belongs on your chess bookshelf. Or better yet, don't buy it. Don't study it. Then put a sign on your back. I'll bribe someone to play you at the next tournament. Thanks.
Rating:
Summary: Should be Entitled "Just the Facts"
Review: I've just written a review on Lev Alburt's book, "Just the Facts", which is not, as I point out, "just the facts". That book is cluttered with trivia and weighed down by style and format; therefore it's very confusing to the targeted reader, the amateur chess player. Panolfini's Endgame Course, by happy contrast, is indeed "just the facts". This wonderful book simplifies all the intimidating endgame principles that other endgame books only make more intimidating! He starts out with basic mates and all their fine points, such as "closing in" with a queen, "cutting off" with a rook, "taking away" squares from the opposing King, and so on. . .then advances on to basic King and Pawn principles, and in so doing, Pandolfini covers concepts, in plain English, that most other books do not cover, such as "critical squares" (a critical concept!), "corresponding squares", "outflanking", getting the opposing King to block his own pawn via clever maneouvering, and many others, including, of course, the "opposition". After about 100 pages of King and Pawn concepts, Bruce throws in the other pieces to illustrate how they change the situation, but still keeping an eye on how to "boil down" the position to a simple King and Pawn. A great example of neat stuff in this book could be demonstrated by Position #176 on Page 223, where White sacrifices his Knight in order to bring the position down to your basic King and Pawn elements. Bruce shows how White, in this position, forces Black to cooperate and in so doing the White King ends up occupying one of Black's "critical squares". . . therefore Black is neutered and White ends up promoting his pawn. In fact, you'll find that much of winning endgame play involves the concept of "critical squares", and getting your King and pawns to occupy them, and preventing your opponent from occupying his. Bruce spends many pages on these concepts, and another key example is Position #107 on Page 143, where he demonstrates sacrificing a pawn so that your King can occupy one of these squares. Another beautiful concept is discussed in Positions #93 and #94, Pages 125 and 126, where White is defending because he has the weaker position. . .he therefore sacrifices his pawn so that the position has now changed with the White King now occupying one of Black's critical squares, preventing Black from winning and leading to a draw ("Changing the Critical Squares"). Also discussed is the tricky "corresponding squares" principle, which is a complicated version of the "opposition", where both Kings maneouver around each other attempting to take the opposition. This is illustrated, among other places, in Diagram 113, on Page 149. On the downside are, of course, all the typos that you've been reading about, such as Diagram 97, on Page 130, where the entire diagram is off by one file (White has a pawn on the g-file but the text and move lines talk about advancing the h pawn). . . and all the other typos. In my opinion, these typos demonstrate sloppy and amateurish editing, but do not significantly interfere with the author's explanatory skills. In other words, you will benefit greatly from this book if you study it conscientiously, and in the process the typos will only be a slight annoyance which you'll be able to deal with easily. As you can see, I have not "marked down" my rating for this book because of the typos; I have given it 5 stars because you will come away with a 5-star understanding of endgames if you concentrate on the material at hand. Besides, you'll be able to figure out the author's intentions as you delve into the concepts. By the way, another good endgame book to read, after Pandolfini's Endgame Course, would be Silman's Essential Endgames Move by Move, published by, I believe, Chess Digest. This is another book which indeed discusses "just the facts". And one more thing: I am a rank amateur, probably around a "D" class, maybe approaching "C". But this is what I feel gives me the right to be critical with these books. I know what an amateur needs, because I am an amateur myself. I've learned that sometimes these grandmasters have difficulty explaining concepts to us plain folk. . . kind of like Einstein trying to explain his Theory of Relativity.
Rating:
Summary: Should be Entitled "Just the Facts"
Review: I've just written a review on Lev Alburt's book, "Just the Facts", which is not, as I point out, "just the facts". That book is cluttered with trivia and weighed down by style and format; therefore it's very confusing to the targeted reader, the amateur chess player. Panolfini's Endgame Course, by happy contrast, is indeed "just the facts". This wonderful book simplifies all the intimidating endgame principles that other endgame books only make more intimidating! He starts out with basic mates and all their fine points, such as "closing in" with a queen, "cutting off" with a rook, "taking away" squares from the opposing King, and so on. . .then advances on to basic King and Pawn principles, and in so doing, Pandolfini covers concepts, in plain English, that most other books do not cover, such as "critical squares" (a critical concept!), "corresponding squares", "outflanking", getting the opposing King to block his own pawn via clever maneouvering, and many others, including, of course, the "opposition". After about 100 pages of King and Pawn concepts, Bruce throws in the other pieces to illustrate how they change the situation, but still keeping an eye on how to "boil down" the position to a simple King and Pawn. A great example of neat stuff in this book could be demonstrated by Position #176 on Page 223, where White sacrifices his Knight in order to bring the position down to your basic King and Pawn elements. Bruce shows how White, in this position, forces Black to cooperate and in so doing the White King ends up occupying one of Black's "critical squares". . . therefore Black is neutered and White ends up promoting his pawn. In fact, you'll find that much of winning endgame play involves the concept of "critical squares", and getting your King and pawns to occupy them, and preventing your opponent from occupying his. Bruce spends many pages on these concepts, and another key example is Position #107 on Page 143, where he demonstrates sacrificing a pawn so that your King can occupy one of these squares. Another beautiful concept is discussed in Positions #93 and #94, Pages 125 and 126, where White is defending because he has the weaker position. . .he therefore sacrifices his pawn so that the position has now changed with the White King now occupying one of Black's critical squares, preventing Black from winning and leading to a draw ("Changing the Critical Squares"). Also discussed is the tricky "corresponding squares" principle, which is a complicated version of the "opposition", where both Kings maneouver around each other attempting to take the opposition. This is illustrated, among other places, in Diagram 113, on Page 149. On the downside are, of course, all the typos that you've been reading about, such as Diagram 97, on Page 130, where the entire diagram is off by one file (White has a pawn on the g-file but the text and move lines talk about advancing the h pawn). . . and all the other typos. In my opinion, these typos demonstrate sloppy and amateurish editing, but do not significantly interfere with the author's explanatory skills. In other words, you will benefit greatly from this book if you study it conscientiously, and in the process the typos will only be a slight annoyance which you'll be able to deal with easily. As you can see, I have not "marked down" my rating for this book because of the typos; I have given it 5 stars because you will come away with a 5-star understanding of endgames if you concentrate on the material at hand. Besides, you'll be able to figure out the author's intentions as you delve into the concepts. By the way, another good endgame book to read, after Pandolfini's Endgame Course, would be Silman's Essential Endgames Move by Move, published by, I believe, Chess Digest. This is another book which indeed discusses "just the facts". And one more thing: I am a rank amateur, probably around a "D" class, maybe approaching "C". But this is what I feel gives me the right to be critical with these books. I know what an amateur needs, because I am an amateur myself. I've learned that sometimes these grandmasters have difficulty explaining concepts to us plain folk. . . kind of like Einstein trying to explain his Theory of Relativity.
Rating:
Summary: Should be Entitled "Just the Facts"
Review: I've just written a review on Lev Alburt's book, "Just the Facts", which is not, as I point out, "just the facts". That book is cluttered with trivia and weighed down by style and format; therefore it's very confusing to the targeted reader, the amateur chess player. Panolfini's Endgame Course, by happy contrast, is indeed "just the facts". This wonderful book simplifies all the intimidating endgame principles that other endgame books only make more intimidating! He starts out with basic mates and all their fine points, such as "closing in" with a queen, "cutting off" with a rook, "taking away" squares from the opposing King, and so on. . .then advances on to basic King and Pawn principles, and in so doing, Pandolfini covers concepts, in plain English, that most other books do not cover, such as "critical squares" (a critical concept!), "corresponding squares", "outflanking", getting the opposing King to block his own pawn via clever maneouvering, and many others, including, of course, the "opposition". After about 100 pages of King and Pawn concepts, Bruce throws in the other pieces to illustrate how they change the situation, but still keeping an eye on how to "boil down" the position to a simple King and Pawn. A great example of neat stuff in this book could be demonstrated by Position #176 on Page 223, where White sacrifices his Knight in order to bring the position down to your basic King and Pawn elements. Bruce shows how White, in this position, forces Black to cooperate and in so doing the White King ends up occupying one of Black's "critical squares". . . therefore Black is neutered and White ends up promoting his pawn. In fact, you'll find that much of winning endgame play involves the concept of "critical squares", and getting your King and pawns to occupy them, and preventing your opponent from occupying his. Bruce spends many pages on these concepts, and another key example is Position #107 on Page 143, where he demonstrates sacrificing a pawn so that your King can occupy one of these squares. Another beautiful concept is discussed in Positions #93 and #94, Pages 125 and 126, where White is defending because he has the weaker position. . .he therefore sacrifices his pawn so that the position has now changed with the White King now occupying one of Black's critical squares, preventing Black from winning and leading to a draw ("Changing the Critical Squares"). Also discussed is the tricky "corresponding squares" principle, which is a complicated version of the "opposition", where both Kings maneouver around each other attempting to take the opposition. This is illustrated, among other places, in Diagram 113, on Page 149. On the downside are, of course, all the typos that you've been reading about, such as Diagram 97, on Page 130, where the entire diagram is off by one file (White has a pawn on the g-file but the text and move lines talk about advancing the h pawn). . . and all the other typos. In my opinion, these typos demonstrate sloppy and amateurish editing, but do not significantly interfere with the author's explanatory skills. In other words, you will benefit greatly from this book if you study it conscientiously, and in the process the typos will only be a slight annoyance which you'll be able to deal with easily. As you can see, I have not "marked down" my rating for this book because of the typos; I have given it 5 stars because you will come away with a 5-star understanding of endgames if you concentrate on the material at hand. Besides, you'll be able to figure out the author's intentions as you delve into the concepts. By the way, another good endgame book to read, after Pandolfini's Endgame Course, would be Silman's Essential Endgames Move by Move, published by, I believe, Chess Digest. This is another book which indeed discusses "just the facts". And one more thing: I am a rank amateur, probably around a "D" class, maybe approaching "C". But this is what I feel gives me the right to be critical with these books. I know what an amateur needs, because I am an amateur myself. I've learned that sometimes these grandmasters have difficulty explaining concepts to us plain folk. . . kind of like Einstein trying to explain his Theory of Relativity.
Rating:
Summary: THE place to start for neophytes
Review: If you're trying to get a handle on the endgame, this is the book for you. Beginning players will profit immensely, and intermediate players (my standing) will get the information they need to consolidate and enlarge their understanding of this important phase of the game. Advanced players probably won't get much out of this but might benefit from borrowing a friend's copy and reviewing the final chapters. Nothing beats watching an endgame position materialize that you've studied over and over. And it gives me confidence to know that if I can't prosecute mate in the middlegame, I can go into the endgame with strong chances. One other reviewer said he would refrain from expressing minor criticisms; I'm going to present mine, since they explain why I'm giving this book four stars instead of five. 1. Pandolfini has elevated the position-a-page format to the level of a fetish. This has a distorting effect on certain endgame situations. Some types of endgames are draws in all but one or a few instances; Pandolfini gives equal space to the typical drawn case and the exceptional winning case. This equal coverage leaves an impression on the mind that the draws and the wins are equally divided, and it takes some conscious effort to overcome this misconception. 2. The typos! Oh, the typos! Think of them as "bonus challenges." Can you find them all? My copy must have at least two dozen corrections of the diagrams and text, in addition to the supplementary analysis I've penciled in. Fortunately, the text analysis seems very solid. I've only found two possible mistakes: Position 35 doesn't appear as easy as Pandolfini makes it seem, and position 137 has an elementary mate in 2 which is completely overlooked!
Rating:
Summary: Want the software version of this book? A freebie!
Review: Interestingly, many of the topics I wanted to cover were covered by Michael Thomas in his review, "Should be Entitled 'Just the Facts,'" so I will limit myself to a few observations and some minor corrections.
One reviewer spoke of setting-up Pandolfini's positions on his computer. Fortunately, this has been done for you. You can download the positions from "Pandolfini's Endgame Course" at http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/~gossimit/c/book.htm. Download the file pan-egc_corr.zip. If you cannot unzip this file, then you will need a data compression utility such as WinZip. WinZip can be purchased at www.winzip.com. Once you unzip pan-egc_corr.zip, use the program ChessBase Light to open the file. ChessBase Light can be downloaded at www.chessbase.com. These items, with the exception of the data compression utility, are free!
Pandolfini's book does not cover the endings as methodically, for example, as Paul Keres does in his "Practical Chess Endings." For this reason, his book might best be thought of as a supplementary text. As a main text, I would recommend Jeremy Silman's "Essential Chess Endings: Explained Move by Move." This book takes a more traditional approach to the study of the endgame. It, like most introductory endgame books, Pandolfini's book included, does not adequately cover the concept of "related squares." Since this is crucial to the understanding of pawn endings, I highly recommend your reading Hajenius & Riemsdijk's "The Final Countdown."
Everyone mentions the typos in this book, but "Endgame 199," page 250, is the most serious. In the previously mentioned software, this position is identified as an example of flawed analysis. I do not agree with this assessment. Consider, for a moment, this position: White Ke1, Rc2; Black Ke3, Rh3, Pd3; we are told that "White moves and draws," but this is not the case! Pandolfini has inadvertently placed the Black R on h3 instead of h6. If you make this correction, then Pandolfini's analysis is correct. Just for fun, solve this problem on your own. Do you see why the placement of the Black R makes a difference?
Endgame 137, page 180, is another interesting endgame. In this position: White Kc3 Rb8; Black Ka1, Pa2, Pandolfini gives the following solution: 1. Kb3 Kb1 2. Ka3+ Ka1 3. Rh8 Kb1 4. Rh1+ Kc2 5. Kxa2 and wins; unfortunately, 1. Rd8 (not the only move) Kb1 2. Rd1 is a two move mate. Of course, this is possible only because the White K is misplaced. Instead of placing the K on c3, it should have been placed on c4. Now the line given by Pandolfini makes sense!
In conclusion: The typos are distracting, but, for the most part, they are not serious. If the positions you are solving don't seem to be of a single fabric, i.e. they seem disjointed, then make sure to reference the chapter contents (for example, page 105 shows that Endgames 76-77 involve Doubled Pawns, while Endgames 78-79 deal with Connected Pawns, and so forth) for clarification. This book is best used in conjunction with a more traditional book on the endgame, sort of a textbook, workbook relationship. Under no circumstances would I recommend this as your only book on the endgame. A supplemental tool: Yes; a "complete" course: No.
Rating:
Summary: One of Pandolfini's finest works
Review: No Hype! This is likely Bruce Pandolfini's best book. It does an excellent job of covering the most important basic endgames that an amateur needs to know. If you don't have an endgame book get it!
|
