I'm starting to take a shine to endgame studies, I think they are fantasically entertaining. I dwell on the share pleasure that so many problems can be present to solve with just a few pieces on the board. 

Now my question lies in fact what is the best way to systematicaly learn endgames? 

By my logical deduction I came up with these steps to take.

First simple mates - not to difficult until you get to Knight and Bishop

Second - what i like to call technical endgames (King and Pawn(s))

Third - Pawnless Endgames or I like to call tricky endgames

For e.x. Queen vs. Rook, Rook vs. Minor Piece, Rook + Minor Piece vs. Rook

Now I'm a little stump what piece + pawn endgame should come next.

Queen and Pawns, Rooks and Pawns, Bishops and Pawns, Knight and Pawns

So the above would be 4-7

Eight - Rook and Pawns vs. Minor Piece and Pawns

Nine - Queen (+ pawns) vs. mess of things that may prove difficult to handle

 

Check out Jeremy Silman's Complete Endgame Course. It's organized by rating level. It's an interesting organizational technique since it's more or less in order of importance. Not all king and pawn endgames are lumped together, nor are all rook and pawn endings, etc.

Loomis wrote: Check out Jeremy Silman's Complete Endgame Course. It's organized by rating level. It's an interesting organizational technique since it's more or less in order of importance. Not all king and pawn endgames are lumped together, nor are all rook and pawn endings, etc.

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That is a interesting approach but I think such scatter ideas would be hard to start applying to my own games and also I think this aproach would allow positional draws  overlook and miss understood.

If you don't like Silman's approach, a couple good first endgame books that go topic by topic are "Winning Chess Endings" and "Pandolfini's Endgame Course".  

> First simple mates - not to difficult until you get to Knight and Bishop

That's a logical place to begin. K+Q vs K and K+R vs K. You can master these. Practice them until you can solve them rapidly w/ <1% chance of stalemate.

> Second - what i like to call technical endgames (King and Pawn(s))

Set small, practical goals:

K+P vs K - Completely master this ending from both sides.

K+R+P vs K+R - Master the "Philidor", "Lucena", and "Vancura" positions.

> Third - Pawnless Endgames or I like to call tricky endgames

K+Q vs K+B and K+Q vs K+N are fairly easy.

Later you may want to learn the B+B, B+N, & N+N mates... Q vs P and R vs P and N vs P and B vs P... K+P vs K+P... more K+R+P vs K+R positions... but whatever endgame book you buy will have a suggested sequence so don't worry too much. And I hope you aren't crazy enough to do serious study without a book!

That you can systematically master all endgames is an illusion--that would take a lifetime or more, and even most GMs have not completely mastered such a "basic" endgame as K+R+P vs K+R (although they are very competent!). Each time you circle through a topic... your knowledge deepens. Applying it in games helps it to stick.

Oh, and check out the endgame articles on my blogs. :)

likesforests wrote:

If you don't like Silman's approach, a couple good endgame books that go topic by topic are "Winning Chess Tactics" and "Pandolfini's Endgame Course".  

> First simple mates - not to difficult until you get to Knight and Bishop

That's a logical place to begin. K+Q vs K and K+R vs K. You can master these. Practice them until you can solve them rapidly w/ <1% chance of stalemate.

> Second - what i like to call technical endgames (King and Pawn(s))

Set small, practical goals:

K+P vs K - Completely master this ending from both sides.

K+R+P vs K+R - Master the "Philidor", "Lucena", and "Vancura" positions.

> Third - Pawnless Endgames or I like to call tricky endgames

K+Q vs K+B and K+Q vs K+N are fairly easy.

That's enough for you first circle through the endgames. On your second circle you may want to learn the B+B, B+N, & N+N mates... Q vs P and R vs P and N vs P and B vs P... K+P vs K+P... more K+R+P vs K+R positions... but whatever endgame book you buy will have a suggested sequence so don't worry about it too much. :)

Get away from the illusion that you can systematically master all endgames--that would take a lifetime, and even most GMs have not completely mastered such a "basic" endgame as K+R+P vs K+R (although they are very competent!). Each time you circle through a topic... your knowledge gradually deepens. 

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 Thank You. Too, clarified what circle means, I'm taking into the account of a steps taking and repeated to demonstrated that knowledge has been obtained.

I did include simple mates might think that I'm low rated though my rating does not approach master strength as of yet (rating 1827). I'm remind of what the great Mikhail Tal said (not a direct Quote) "I got most of my inspiration from watching lectures given to beginners and the simple process of going over the simplest of things lets you know what the title of master means." In Waitzkin book The Art of Learning, Waitzkin implies that mastering something requires perfecting the smallest motion (in material arts the wording can be change to fit any field) and repeated process of deep external and internal analysis. 

 Some GMs do blunder in endgames this is because of Modern Time Controls. If given the proper allotment of time the quality of play would be better in this field. Though absolute mastership in this field may be impossible, I do believe a theoretical mastership is possible. I mean that I have obtain significant understanding of what a piece needs to do to stop a pass pawn, or what positions are favorable to sacrifice for a pass pawn etc.

 

materialkiller> Some GMs do blunder in endgames this is because of Modern Time Controls. If given the proper allotment of time the quality of play would be better in this field.

Very true. And yet, there are whole books written on K+R+P vs K+R and even given an hour, some positions defy the likes of Shirov and Dreev. One of the Polgar sisters a few years back proved that most GMs couldn't mate her in a Q vs R ending--it's quite difficult if the weaker side defends accurately. And of course you forget some things everyday, even as you learn new things. That doesn't stop me from trying to master endgames, but it's sure given me some perspective on the path ahead.  :)