Kings and Pawns (6 Tips)

Knights (8 Tips)

Bishops (14 Tips)

Knight vs. Bishop (8 Tips)

Rooks (25 Tips)

Queens (3 Tips)

Strategy and Technique (37 Tips)

The last group, “Strategy and Technique” is more complex endgames with more pieces on the board. As you can see, there is a lot of material covered in pretty small space which makes the pace of the book very good. I remember once trying to read one of the above mentioned books from cover to cover and never making it pass the pawn endgames… This is not going to happen to readers of 101 Chess Endgame Tips as the book is most enjoying and can be read from cover to cover effortlessly. If anything, you will be sorry there aren’t 50 more tips, when you arrive at tip 101.

Surprisingly enough, this effortlessness and fun does not come at the expense of learning value. How does Giddins achieve this magical combination? Well, he is just extremely clear and bases his teaching on rules rather than variations, as much as possible. For example, the following diagram, Capablanca-Menchik, 1910, brings me literally painful memories as I recall trying to solve it in John Nunn’s Chess Puzzle Book and getting a severe headache.

Giddins gives this as the most basic rook endgame example with three basic rules of how Black can defend this position. After understanding these three simple rules you just can’t believe how poorly Capablanca and Menchik play. It’s like watching two blindfold kids trying to attach a “tail” to the donkey figure on the wall. Would you imagine looking at a Capablanca endgame and seeing more than he did? Would you believe it could be done so easily? Apparently, with the right chess teacher it is possible.

When searching for the weak points of the books there are only two minor reservations that I have. First, the book could benefit from an index of players, or at least a list of the games in the contents section. When I read an example I remember it according to the names of the players and not according to the name of the tip (which is witty but harder for me to remember). The lack of index makes it more time consuming to search back for a position you recollect only vaguely. The second weakness is that, at times, I think readers could use more guidance, in the form of variations. For example, in Botvinnik – Riumin, 1936 (tip 12), Giddins tells us that Riumin could have played better but he does not tell us how Botvinnik could have won the position had Riumin played the best defense. This leaves readers with the notion they did not fully understand the position and the game. Still, I understand that Giddins has a concept of “no tedious, lingering analyses” which contributes to what he tries to promote most – love for endgames.

The third aspect that contributes to the book is the excellent material choice. Giddins chose endgames of world class players (contemporary and historical) that are both basic and feature the greatest players. For example, defending a 1 pawn vs. 2 pawns endgame seems boring and technical but when you do it together with Timman, defending against Yusupov (tip 3) the whole issue becomes more dramatic and glamorous and you can immediately sense how you will use this knowledge even when you will be in the world top 10. In the later part of the book Giddins shows the achievements of today’s great endgame players (Kramnik, Topalov, Karpov, Aronian…) and how their knowledge and persistence in the endgame help them “break” their opponents and convert drawn positions into wins. In the following diagram, from Aronian – Svidler, Morelia-Linares, 2006, after we have seen Black losing ground move by move under Aronian’s pressure, he makes the last mistake:

1… Be8? 2 e6 1-0 (Black is in zugzwang – he must either lose his bishop or let White’s king to d6).

With the faster time controls endgame knowledge becomes more important than ever before. With the beauty of endgames, enjoying them is a pleasure all chess amateurs should have. With Giddins’ 101 Chess Endgame Tips, chess readers can have both the pleasure and the gain.

The Good Things:

• Many authors teach you how to “survive” the endgame while Giddins teaches you to love the endgame

• Explanations are the easiest to understand I have ever seen

• Choice of examples is excellent – Giddins teaches the basic through games of modern grandmasters (Kramnik, Ivanchuk, Timman, Yusupov, Aronian…) combined with games from the classic soviet masters (Karpov, Smyslov and mostly Botvinnik)

• Analyses are clear and never tedious

The Bad Things:

• At times, I could use more elaborate analyses

• No index of players and games

Quote: (After Aronin simplifies a won position into a drawn pawn endgame) “this dropped half-point cost Aronin the interzonal qualification, and haunted him for the rest of his career. He was never the same player again.”

The Bottom Line: Read one of these tips everyday. In 101 days you will be a better chess player. More importantly, you will augment you enjoyment of the game.

Rating: 9.5/10

Review written by Moshe Rachmuth.

More about Endgames in our June Endgame Mania

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