Conclusion Knowledge is power. In the case of chess endings, this knowledge is a power that leads to better results! You’ve just completed a study of all endgame knowledge essential to your chess for the rest of your life. After all, chess endgame principles don’t change. Given the frequency and importance of the endgame, the time and energy you’ve spent will be a rewarding investment. But there are things you should continue to do both to retain your newfound knowledge and to gain an even deeper understanding of chess endgames. First of all, regularly reviewing this book is important. The color-coding of the most important positions and ideas makes the process easy. We encourage you to circle, underline, and make your own comments in the margins as you do this. Secondly, connect your own experiences with this book. Keep this book in your chess bag. Your interest is at its peak immediately after you’ve finished an intriguing endgame. Use the table of contents to find where the general principles of your game are discussed. Do the principles given apply, or is your position an exception or addition? You may want to draw or paste the new position into the closest blank space. Collecting and sorting your own endgames is a very important step to your ongoing improvement. We suggest keeping files (on paper or on computer) of the different types of endings you play. The divisions we suggest in this book should work well. In addition, you could keep another file separating your endings by themes—zugzwang, bad bishop, reserve pawn moves, etc. Again, the themes we suggest in this book should work well as your divisions or subtopics. Each time you play another interesting endgame, use your files to compare it with your previous ones of the same type or theme. You’ll be surprised and gratified how quickly you gain confidence and knowledge—and how well your increased understanding sticks with you! In every phase of your chess study, recognize the importance of endgame play. When you play over a master game, don’t quit as soon as one player
has a winning advantage, play all the moves out! You need to see how the masters convert their advantages to wins! Finally, keep in mind that winning endgame play requires planning. Don’t just think in terms of what moves are immediately available, plan. Don’t just play, build! You’ll love the results, and you’ll love being a player no one likes getting into an endgame with!
A Brief Endgame Glossary Breakthrough: Creating a far-advanced passed pawn with a sacrifice. Building a bridge: Winning technique in the Lucena position. Chenturini’s Rule: In same colored bishop endgames, defender draws if his bishop always has an available safe move on the short diagonal. Counting: A method of determining if a passed pawn will safely promote. Distant Passed Pawn: A passed pawn far away from the other pawns. Endgame: The stage of the game in which so many pieces have been captured that the kings can take an active part in the battle and passed pawns assume extra importance. Long Diagonal: The longer of two key diagonals in bishop endgames. Long Side: In rook and pawn endings, refers to the number of files between the pawn and the edge of the board. The long side has more squares than the short side. Lucena Position: A specific type of rook and pawn vs. rook position in which the strong side “builds a bridge” with his king, rook and pawn to win. Major Pieces: The rooks and queen. Minor Pieces: The bishops and knights. Moving Screen: Taking a short route with your king while forcing the enemy king into a longer route. Also called “running screen,” “running pick” or “shouldering.”
Mutual Defense Treaties: When pawns (or pawn and knight) defend each other because if one is captured, the remaining pawn queens. Opposition: When the kings oppose each other with one square between, the side that does not have to move “has the opposition.” Passed Pawn: A pawn with no enemy pawns to block or capture it. Passing the Move: Giving the move back to your opponent. Promotion: When a pawn reaches the final row on the opposite side of the board, it has the option of becoming a queen, rook, bishop or knight. Philidor’s Position: A famous rook versus rook-and-pawn draw. Queening: Promoting a pawn to a queen. Safe Square: In king-and-pawn endings, any square on which the defending king can stand to maintain the draw. Short Diagonal: The shorter of two key diagonals in bishop endgames. Short Side: In rook and pawn endgames, refers to the number of files between the pawn and the edge of the board. The short side has fewer squares than the long side. Square of the Pawn: A technique to quickly calculate whether an unprotected pawn can queen. It’s an imaginary square that contains the same number of chessboard squares as the number of moves it will take the pawn to promote. Also called the Berger Square. Targeting: Attacking a pawn to force it to the wrong color square or tie the enemy king to its defense. Triangulation: A technique to pass the move. The king takes two moves to get to a square he could have gone to in one move, thus giving the appearance of tracing a triangle. Under-promotion: Pawn promotion to a rook, bishop, or knight. Zugzwang: German for “compulsion to move.”
Improve Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible Reach your full potential. Contact me today to schedule your first lesson! with personal Instruction from three-time US Champion GM Lev Alburt Write to: GM Lev Alburt PO Box 534, Gracie Station, New York, NY 10028-0005 or call me at 212-794-8706 As a chess teacher, my job is to provide my students quick, steady, and noticeable improvement, without wasting their valuable time. After discussing your chess and analyzing your games, I’ll design the most
effective, personalized study program for you—based on the same, proven, Russian-developed system that led to half a century of world champions. It does work. Through-the-mail lessons start at $80/hour. Over-the-telephone and faceto-face lessons are also available. In the long run, these lessons can save you thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours. You’ll escape buying an untold number of books not right for you, and you’ll avoid wasting time on topics that aren’t time-efficient. Even a single lesson can help you reassess your game and put you on the right track to major improvement—and winning more chess games!