Article Number
LEBOTOTE
Author
On the Endgame
80 pages, paperback, Chess Enterprises, 1. edition 1985
Discontinued
Former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik is widely recognized as one of the more skilled masters of the endgame. In this book he gives us the benefits of his years of experience against an imposing array of chess immortals: Alekhine, Fischer, Keres, Bronstein, Larsen, Taimanov, Portisch, Najdorf, and many others. While the text is filled with instructive material, it is above all exceptionally readable and full of insights into endgame play at the highest levels of competitive chess. This is a chess book that will be appreciated and enjoyed by every chessplayer.
The present collection consists of 25 endgames; what makes this collection outstanding is that not one of these endgames is like another. Although I have been a specialist of some renown in this particular genre of the art of chess, I never attained complete mastery of the technique of the endgame. As in the other phases of the game as well, I tried always to get to the 'heart' of a position. That's probably why these examples are so varied . . .
Since they are so varied, it's hard to use this collection for the enlargement of endgame theory. There is one example which undoubtedly deserves a place in the textbook, and that is the queen ending of the game with Minev.
After studying this collection, the reader may come to understand why there are many grandmasters who are not so strong in this phase of the game (of course, this observation certainly doesn't apply to such champions as Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe and Smyslov). Here one needs great accuracy in calculating long variations, as well as fantasy and independent positional judgment. But most of all, the master in the endgame must feel like a miner - he has no room for error; in the middlegame, on the contrary, there are many more opportunities to rectify one's inaccuracies.
How the chessplayer enlarges his store of experience is something no one knows for certain. Nevertheless, one may hope that, having fully analyzed these endgames, the reader will not merely obtain pleasure from the beauty of the chess play, but perhaps will not play any weaker in the endgame himself.
M. Botvinnik, Moscow, September 1982
The present collection consists of 25 endgames; what makes this collection outstanding is that not one of these endgames is like another. Although I have been a specialist of some renown in this particular genre of the art of chess, I never attained complete mastery of the technique of the endgame. As in the other phases of the game as well, I tried always to get to the 'heart' of a position. That's probably why these examples are so varied . . .
Since they are so varied, it's hard to use this collection for the enlargement of endgame theory. There is one example which undoubtedly deserves a place in the textbook, and that is the queen ending of the game with Minev.
After studying this collection, the reader may come to understand why there are many grandmasters who are not so strong in this phase of the game (of course, this observation certainly doesn't apply to such champions as Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe and Smyslov). Here one needs great accuracy in calculating long variations, as well as fantasy and independent positional judgment. But most of all, the master in the endgame must feel like a miner - he has no room for error; in the middlegame, on the contrary, there are many more opportunities to rectify one's inaccuracies.
How the chessplayer enlarges his store of experience is something no one knows for certain. Nevertheless, one may hope that, having fully analyzed these endgames, the reader will not merely obtain pleasure from the beauty of the chess play, but perhaps will not play any weaker in the endgame himself.
M. Botvinnik, Moscow, September 1982
| EAN | 0931462436 |
|---|---|
| Weight | 120 g |
| Manufacturer | Chess Enterprises |
| Width | 13.3 cm |
| Height | 20.8 cm |
| Medium | Book |
| Year of Publication | 1985 |
| Author | Michail Botvinnik |
| Language | English |
| Edition | 1 |
| ISBN-10 | 0931462436 |
| Pages | 80 |
| Binding | paperback |
05 Foreword
07 1 Decades in Search of the Truth
10 2 Guilty Without Cause
13 3 An Exchange up, but a King down
16 4 Pieces on a Swing
19 5 Strength in Simplicity
22 6 When the King's in the Net
24 7 Two Zugzwangs in a Single Ending
27 8 Even Piece-Down Endings May Be Saved
29 9 A Classic Zugzwang Position
32 10 Mate in Midboard
35 11 No Rule Without Exception
37 12 How Endgame Theory is Made
40 13 Caissa Rewards Effort
44 14 What We Call "Trousers"
47 15 Sometimes Even Rook Endings May Be Won
50 16 Queen and Knight Work Miracles
53 17 The Birth of a Plan
57 18 Stalemate - the Seed of Salvation
60 19 The Encircled King
62 20 Riddles in the Game and Analysis
67 21 The Subtleties of a Simple Endgame
69 22 The Trapped Queen
71 23 Paul Keres' Study
74 24 A Resourceful King
78 25 Final Victory
07 1 Decades in Search of the Truth
10 2 Guilty Without Cause
13 3 An Exchange up, but a King down
16 4 Pieces on a Swing
19 5 Strength in Simplicity
22 6 When the King's in the Net
24 7 Two Zugzwangs in a Single Ending
27 8 Even Piece-Down Endings May Be Saved
29 9 A Classic Zugzwang Position
32 10 Mate in Midboard
35 11 No Rule Without Exception
37 12 How Endgame Theory is Made
40 13 Caissa Rewards Effort
44 14 What We Call "Trousers"
47 15 Sometimes Even Rook Endings May Be Won
50 16 Queen and Knight Work Miracles
53 17 The Birth of a Plan
57 18 Stalemate - the Seed of Salvation
60 19 The Encircled King
62 20 Riddles in the Game and Analysis
67 21 The Subtleties of a Simple Endgame
69 22 The Trapped Queen
71 23 Paul Keres' Study
74 24 A Resourceful King
78 25 Final Victory