Rating: 
Summary: Pass this one up
Review: On this surface, the pandolfini book looks good, but once you dig down, you discover all is not as it seems. The main problem, as I see it, is that it's a book of winning positions with titles like mate in 2 or mate in 3. Unfortunately, *that* is the easiest part of the endgame, and getting your opponent to that position is basically not covered.What it TRIES to do (and i think it fails here) is give you small pieces of the endgame puzzle as individual positions, and then piece them together. I just don't think this is effective, and would recommend something along the lines of Winning Chess Endings instead, which seems to take a more robust approach.
Rating: 
Summary: A little gem
Review: Pandolfini has written many basic books for beginners, but this is a useful guide/review for players up to Expert strength at least. He gets across a lot of information by repetition, but does it in an interesting way.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book but far too many typos.
Review: Pandolfini must have been in quite a rush to get this book finished. I would think that novices would have trouble with some positions because of these errors. Still it's a nice book to begin with and after this one graduate to Silman's book on essentials of endings. Silman's book is very valuable as is his Reassess Your Chess 3rd Ed. These Silman books are classics in my opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: Great first book on endgames
Review: Study endgames first! This seems counter-intuitive, but it is the best way to make your brain understand how the pieces move. A combination of tactics and endgame training is the quickest route to success for the average player. Don't waste time on the openings until you are a Master, rated 2000+. This book is perfect for learning, as opposed to simply memorizing. The reason is that each page builds on the previous page, and each section on the previous section. You don't need to wade through pages of variations because, by the time you get to a given lesson, you have already learned the positions which result from the alternate moves. That moment of Eureka makes the book great fun! For example, he shows you how to mate with various pieces, so that you know a won endgame when you see one. In these lessons, he'll show you what a King-Bishop-Bishop v. King mate looks like in the corner. Then he'll show you how to roll the King into the corner across the edge of the board. Then he'll show you how to get that bishop-roll started. Each lesson typically ends with a position from a previous lesson, so you can play it out to reinforce what you had learned earlier. Later, he shows you how to turn a pawn into a Queen in various pawn endings. Again, some lessons end in previously learned positions. Others are simply new positions to learn, but of gradually increasing difficulty. At appropriate times, he shows you the stalemate opportunities to watch out for. And it's all at a beginner level (around 1000-1400 USCF) avoiding deep variations to keep track of in your head. The way to use the book is to play a lesson out on a board, to test all possible refuations yourself. When you get lost, refer back to the book. I've been going over this book that way with a friend, which is a great way to learn ALL tries and refutations! I have several other endgame books. I wish I could obtain the Out-Of-Print Seirawan book, but this is by far the best beginner book in print. Silman's Essential Chess Endings Explained Move by Move is a good second book, with some overlap, if you can find it. Some people complain about the many typos in Pandolfini books. To me, finding the typo is just part of solving the problem. Since he always explains in words where the pieces are generally headed, then follows with lines of chess notation, it's very easy to spot his mistake. Still, only 4 1/2 stars, because of the typos.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Endgame Book
Review: The best book to use to learn common practical endgames from simple examples. The format makes it easy to use without a board. Pandolfini covers the essential endgame knowledge to reach chess expert level with the minimum effort. It's what you need to know for over-the-board play with no extra fluff. Useful for beginners up to at least expert level. I'm a USCF Expert but still find this book useful. I just bought a copy for my nephew (11 years old; about USCF 1000 rating) -- some of the book will be beyond him right now, but not all of it. There are some minor typos and errors. As for the typos, you can search the internet to locate one of the online errata lists for this book. I give it 5 stars despite that due to Pandolfini's great selection and presentation of material.
Rating:
Summary: ... .... ...........^******* :-O
Review: this book deals on endgames that NEVER come up in real life. i mean, have you ever seen a game with a king and 2 bishops against a king? it almost NEVER occurs. this book deals on elementary openings, not real life openings. if might help a little, but if you really want to improve your engame play, buy Capablanca's Chess Endings. it has 50 games in it with openings that actually occur!! the price isnt bad either.....
Rating:
Summary: Good book, but don't make it your only endgame book
Review: This book does a good job of describing some common situations in the endgame, or more accurately gives you 200 odd examples of engame situations. This is good to look at after you've read a chapter in another book, for instance Silmans Logical Chess Endings Explained Move by Move. Get it, especially because of the price, but don't just get this book.
Rating:
Summary: Advanced Beginner - Intermediate
Review: This book gradually evolves from the simple/obvious mating combinations to the more subtle strategies of endgames involving pawns and minor pieces. Working through the later examples changed the way I approach my endgame. For me, the "best" part of the book was the approach the author took with achieving either stalemate when you are down material or in avoiding stalemate when you are even/up material. This was incredibly enlightening. The only reason I would remove a star is that some additional detail would be helpful in the advanced strategies. For example, in the efforts to promote pawns, there is a discussion of critical squares for the King but not the formula for that determination. While I believe I understand the concept, more information would have been useful. Other reviews discuss "misprints" of the chess boards in Pandolfini's books -- but this one had much fewer than the Traps & Zaps book.
Rating:
Summary: Good Basic Coverage for the Beginner or Intermediate Player
Review: This book has over 200 important endgame positions. Calling it a complete endgame course would be an exageration. I teach chess and recommend this along with "Basic Chesss Endings" as a follow up. Another excellent way to go for a beginning or even an intermediate player who wants to have ALL of the basic endgames covered is to purchase the entire CHESS FOR JUNIORS SERIES with a focus on getting "Chess For Juniors" if you are a beginner, followed by "Winning Chess Tournaments for Juniors" if you are beyond the beginning stage. These books actually focus on a consitant and comprehensive chess course covering all aspects of the game - including the endgame!
I can certainly say that this is one of Pandolfini's best chess books (he has written a lot of pot boilers and an author should stop writing after he no longer has anything useful to say/teach).
Rating:
Summary: You Gotta Start Somewhere
Review: This book is a good place to start learning about endgames. It progresses from the most basic positions to more detailed. The explanations are easy for a beginner to understand. The author, a well known chess teacher, emphasizes basic concepts. Most endgame books are boring beyond belief and can be very discouraging for the less experienced player. It was really nice to learn in a visual way.
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