Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual

This is the book Hikaru Nakamura called the Bible of Endgames he used to work on his game in his younger days. Between the first chapter alone, then doing puzzles of the same type on one of the chess websites, I’ve already gained serious knowledge and understanding of how to achieve a winning game in this area, instead of a draw or a loss. Yes, it takes serious study, but doesn’t all of chess require a disciplined approach to study and winning on a consistent basis?If you take this book seriously, do the problems on a chessboard and understand the concepts, practice the concepts in puzzles over and over again to cement your knowledge and understanding of why and where to move your pieces, and at the right time and order, your endgame will surpass many levels, as opposed to winging it by the seat of your pants, hoping you grind out a victory and not blunder what could have been a definite win.If you want to win, this book is a worthy, serious investment (and how many times have I used the word ‘serious’ in this review) in your chess future.

Good

Bought this as a gift for my son and he liked it!

Best endgame reference ever written. Useful for club players to world champion grandmasters. Very thorough.

The first endgame book that I have read is the original Hardcover “How to Play Chess Endings?” (in descriptive notations) by Znosko-Borovsky that I found on eBay, not the cheaply reproduced BP reprints which cannot be completely lay-flat.After reading the Znosko-Borovsky’s ending book, I was introduced by my friends the DEM5. DEM5 obviously have much more material in almost all types of endings comparing to Z-B’s book. DEM5 is by far my favorite endgame book, bar none!However, the printing quality and the paper quality of this important book do not quite catch up with its contents! In my point of view, all “important” books should be offered in both HC and PB printed with quality paper which can be laid-flat on desk. This 5th edition is printed too close to the spine! It makes reading some chapters a bit annoying… Any correctly printed book should have correct offsets on even-numbered (to the left) and odd-numbered pages (to the right), so that the contents of all pages could be clearly seen. That is why I always like “sewn” hardcover books. Plz improve the printing quality, Russell.Now, the “100 Endings You Should Know” by de la Villa comes the HC new edition (the 6th). It is time for Russell to issue a sewn HC!

Comprehensive but examples are advanced. If you have a chance you can check the book if it suits your level. Nevertheless it’s instructive.

This manual has been so well written, and is so precise in the descriptions and analyses that I would have to say every chess player who is serious about improving their game intellect should own and study this manual! Every situation is diagrammed with explanations and movements that help the reader understand both the strategy and the tactics used to win the endgame. A must-have! Thank you!

Every chess player needs to own this book. If you think you've seen everything in endgames, guess again. I bought this new version of the book even though I owned the old one. The upgrade is worth it.