Karpov's endgame

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Avatar of PrestigiousEclipse

What is your opinion on Karpov's endgame,I think he is the best in the endgame.What is your opinion?

Avatar of Snajdan1308

Absolutely agree. About the endgame technique, I think Karpov can equal Fischer and Capablanca. There's a book named "Endgame virtuoso Anatoly Karpov", all of us should read this book and feel how good technique he has Smile

Avatar of suzettemy


Book Reviews by John Watson 

 

I'll begin with Endgame Virtuoso Anatoly Karpov (subtitled The Exceptional Skills of the 12th World Champion), by Tibor Karolyi in conjunction with and Nick Aplin. This book was on the short list for the prestigious Book of the Year award from the English Chess Federation (ECF; formerly British Chess Federation, or BCF), the most respected of such awards for chess books. It deals, naturally, with Anatoly Karpov's endgames, of which there are plenty to choose from! Karolyi thinks that Capablanca and Karpov 'were the two champions who relied most upon their exceptional endgame skills." Since he feels that at the time of Karpov's reign, 'competitive standards were much higher [than in Capablanca's time]', he says that Karpov 'played endgames at the highest level ever.' A plausible claim.

The first thing to admit is that this is a truly great addition to the literature of the game, even a classic. But it is also a very technical book and, as with Dvoretsky's classic endgame manual, one has to ask who will actually read the book in depth rather than simply stand in admiration of it. I know that even the two endings that I chose to study in depth exhausted me, and I only played over about half of the notes. By the way, you are strongly encouraged to find each game and position in a database and work from there!

Interestingly, the ECF awarders say: 'The book gives 105 of his endgames which are annotated in a lively style, but with deep analysis at critical points. Karpov’s legendary ability to make something out of nothing is well known and Karolyi makes a serious attempt to understand the secret of Karpov’s success. As a result the reader is simultaneously instructed and entertained.' To my mind, they are absolutely correct except for the 'lively style' bit, and that won't help sales.

The examples (105 of them) include an extraordinary number of fantastic, sometimes breathtaking ideas, as a glance through the book and its diagrams shows. A very dedicated young student might find his or her chess life transformed by meticulous study of Karpov. Taking up this style of play, this depth-in-simplicity, could lead one in an unconventional and productive direction, by comparison with the usual immersion in opening study. Of course, it would take an unusual player to proceed along such a course.

Returning to reality, I can recommend this book without reservation. But a warning: Even more so than with most books, what you get from it will depend upon how much you put into it. And that relation is probably not linear, i.e., a small amount of study may reward you only superficially, while true devotion may enrich you for life. Maybe.

 
Avatar of TwoMove

Can't say finding the book that good....