My endgames are my weakest part of my game simply because I do not play enough of them.  I love the Tactician's idea of setting up endgame positions from the start against a computer and plan to do just that.

Plenty of action all the way. Not your boring slow jockeying for position. Well done on winning!

I win most every endgame I have.  I have messed uptwo realistic endgame examples in my life, both of which occured under time pressure.   The first was slightly in my opponent's favor, and I didn't follow the correct plan of action, and the second, I was contending for first place in a tournament, and I blundered, and my opponent skewered my bishop with hyis bishop.  My main weaknesses in the endgame (that I can find) are that I move too fast, and that I usually only consider one plan of action.

I feel more comfortable in end game positions and often play towards it.  It is amazing how many people through the game away by mistakes made in this part of the game, I guess they are at a loss as what to do at this crucial  stage. One mistake can cost you the game in the endgame and a pawn which can be sacrificed in the opening becomes so all important.  The aspects of the game as everyone who has played the game will agree its pawn formation that is the key plus the knowledge of how to utalise the power of the king.  I would advice anybody to practice endgame situations rather than the openings.

I'm not a great endgame player, so everything I say here might be wrong, but I think one of the reasons people don't reccomend reading My System until you have a high rating is that people misinterpret it.  For instance, 29.Rf4, you gave it an exclamation point for blockading the pawn, but there was no way for him to push it to f4 without losing the pawn.  30. ... Kb7 is not a ?? at worst it deserves a ?!, especially since you gave 31. ... Nd6??,  which not only lost a pawn, but allowed your rook into his position, only one question mark.  Kb7 does defend the b-pawn, but it is very passive and your plan for him was probably more active.

If you look at the position after 31.Kf2, I would say black is winning without a doubt.  Although your rooks are blockading pawns, they aren't really doing anything else.  If he played 31. ... Rhf6, his one rook would take care of both of your rooks and control more squares than them, but he has more active plans.  Your bishop is completely worthless when compared to his knight (bad bishop v good knight see any book on endgames).  None of your pieces are coordinated and you probably should have tried to double your rooks somewhere.  That's what I think, if I am wrong then sorry, but if not ....

By the way, I think a better book to read would be "Chess Fundamentals" written by one of the greatest players of all time, Jose Raul Capablanca.

My biggest end game troubles stem from not seeing all the other moves my opponent may make. I seem to miss that ! big one that throws off my plans. I have tried lately to be more throrough. I find this hard. Anyway thats where my end lacks. I do feel the endgame is not my strong suit yet. This most certainly costs me games.

" why it didnt finish the game??"

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Well I had the position won so he didn't want to continue and waste time on a game that was clearly lost. *shrugs* He resigned.

 why it didnt finish the game??

move 35....a5, gave white a chance to free the bishop, i think very important in an endgame that pieces are active and doing they part.  its good idea not to let your opponent a passed pawn at endgame plus by move 36. bxa5+ frees bishop which is good.

that was a very detailed explaination

Here's one of my recent games that I thought was a pretty good endgame (for me anyways). My opponent did make a few mistakes and some moves that he should've done something else but overall it was good play. Hope you guys like it. (The endgame starts at around move 25?)

 

I, personally, feel that I can manage in an average endgame position. The only problem I have is when what seems to be a drawn position gets lost because my opponent somehow manuevers and takes all my pawns while I can't even touch theirs >.>. Anyways, I agree with tactician in that endgames are probably the last thing beginners get experience with due to the fact that they're usually checkmated before a position can simplify into an ending ^_^. Though not necessarily the easiest and most exciting part of chess, the endgame should be a top priority for beginners. They need to learn how to turn an advantage into a win. If someone were to study chess, they should first start with the endgame, and work backwards (middlegame then opening).

hai

When I was a beginner I would play opponents that were very strong compared to me and I would be up one or two pawns or even pieces before the endgame. But as soon as I got into the endgame I would make a mistake and then a won endgame would be a loss or a draw. The reason this happened to me was because I didn't have endgame experience so my endgame technique was extremely terrible. I especially had a hard time with the rooks (seems kind of odd that a piece that moves so simply can be so complicated) . Because of this, I think anyone starting chess should first learn the endgame or at least a little bit of it. What's important to know about the endgame according to me is: (1) you cannot play "blindly" in the endgame (in other words you have to have a clear plan and be able see exactly how you are going to win) and (2) make sure the opponent doesn't play something unexpected, something you didn't see. Of course there are many books on the endgame but if don't want to spend any money you could play a chess computer (which can be downloaded) with nothing but the king, pawns and then select one of the pieces (knights, bishops, rooks, and queen). After I had more experience with the endgame I won more games and today (many years later) I feel confident in any endgame position.