I'm happy to say that I am finally getting a little better at chess. So much so that I've actually gone into endgame with an advantage occasionally

Sadly my endgame is terrible, and not only does it usually take me forever to finish off an opponent, but I've even blown a few games where I was ahead and ended up losing.

Any good books, websites, other you recommend for endgame skills?

Thanks in advance.

Is there a form of learning material you'd prefer? Online, books, etc? Reason I ask is for basic endgame knowledge, I'd bet there is plenty of free material online. I haven't checked, but surely there is some good stuff.

For a beginner, I'd probably recommend the following material to study. I'd like to hear opinions from others as well.

1) Basic mates - K+Q v Q, K+R v Q, K+B+B v K, etc
2) Overwhelming material advantages - K+Q+3P v K+R or something of that nature
3) King and pawn endings - basic stuff like opposition and zugzwang
4) Rook and pawn endings - Lucena and Philidor positions, active rook defense, that type of stuff

I think a firm knowledge of those things can take someone up to a class A player. I wouldn't spend time on bishop or knight endings just yet because those happen much less frequently than the others. They need to be studied, just not right away.

Do you have any recent games you could post for some feedback? That would probably be the most helpful for you.

Thanks Tex

I like to read, so actual books would be good. I def don't mind free online articles though. Or online trainers(or whatever if such a thing exists??).

I'll see if I can find any games. I've been playing live more lately, which is very fun, but ofc no game data.

They have an endgames trainer on chesstempo.com. Not sure how restrictive it is (you may get x amount of problems free per day and have to pay a little bit to have unlimited) but it's definitely worth a look. It doesn't cost anything to sign up.

Another good training tool for endgames for beginners is through a chess engine. This is a lot pricier, but in it you can get practice against preset endgame positions and play them against a computer. I'm not sure if it comes with Houdini, which is a free chess downloadable engine (I have Fritz), but I'm sure even in Houdini you can set up endgame positions and play against it.

I made a thread about endgames when this forum opened.

Learn to Love Endgames


I reccomend this as your first endgame book.





Just the Facts! Winning Endgame Knowledge in One Volume by GM Lev Alburt and GM Nikolay Krogius is a 408 page book which starts with the most basic position (King and pawn vs. King) and expands systematically through endings with pawns and pieces. If you master the material in just that book, I think you’re likely to be better in endgames than at least 90% of players rated less than 2000.

Agree with King/Pawn and Rook/Pawn endings being the most important to study first. There are a lot of important techniques that can be then used in your own games quickly. Ideas like cutting off the opponents King in Rook endings becomes basic - as well as ideas like an outside passed pawn which although it can be stopped then allows you to switch over to mop up all the pawns on the other side.

nice post!

i just do not think any endgame book then this one do a better job for novice player

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/189...tag=shogime-20