Reviews please: silmans complete endgame course
Sort:
nothing really to add to the title. anybody on here own the book, read the book or had any other contact with this. thinking of getting it for christmas, but unsure if it is out of my depth and should learn something else first.
I own the book; it is suitable for all levels because it is broken into what you should know by rating (e.g., 1000 ELO player should know X, 1200 should know X, etc.). If I had to recommend a single endgame book to a new player it would probably be this book; if he can afford additional books, then I would also recommend “Winning Chess Endings” by Yasser, “Improve Your Endgame Play” by Flear, and “Practical Endgame Play - Mastering the Basics” by Grivas.
Good if you like “explanation” books. For practice problems (the only real way to improve), stick to the interactive lessons/exercises on this site and the exercises on chess tempo.
does it describe positions and strategies and what you should aim for which typically is what i am after. or is it 500 pages worth of random positions, pull out the board and work it out type of book?
Goes over classic endgame positions with few pieces on the board (mating a lone king, simple king pawn endgames), at least the chapters I have gone through (class B section).
Sounds like you are looking for an “endgame strategy” book like the one by Shereshevsky.
Sounds like you are looking for an “endgame strategy” book like the one by Shereshevsky.
All of the books I recommended have quite a bit of prose and are generally broken up by endgame type (e.g., “Rook vs Rook and Pawn” etc.); of course, they also include positions you have to work through. Generally speaking these books explain the basic ideas/techniques of each endgame, followed by instructive examples with prose, followed by tests. You can see inside the Grivas book and few others on Amazon; if there is one you can’t find I can send you a few sample pages (although I’m sure you can find table of contents/sample pages for all of these fairly easily).
@dannyhume made a good observation; I don’t think any beginner endgame game book really goes into “strategy,” they are more about general principles and how to navigate specific endgames (e.g, Rook vs One Pawn).
HarryTaylor1511 wrote:
… thinking of getting it for christmas, but unsure if it is out of my depth and should learn something else first. does it describe positions and strategies and what you should aim for which typically is what i am after. or is it 500 pages worth of random positions, pull out the board and work it out type of book?
Sounds as though you may be comfortable with an "explanation" book like that of Silman who started with relatively simple positions (perhaps "random" to some people) and worked his way up to more complicated ones. The book does have exercises, but there are also a lot of examples with descriptions of what to aim for.
"... I believe that Jeremy Silman's Silman’s Complete Endgame Course ... deserved strong consideration for the 2007 ECF Book of the Year award; see the two books above. ... I'm convinced that Silman's book will take its place in history as one of the most popular endgame books ever. It has already caught on with the average player in a big way, confirming Silman's status as the king of instructional writers. He writes in a clear and casual style, and time and again has shown the ability to reach those who feel intimidated by the lofty approach that a grandmaster will often take. ... Silman ... defines what he thinks is necessary to know at specific rating levels. For example, the beginner or unrated player needs to know ... Silman's idea is to wait until you climb in strength before you worry about more advanced material. Then, as a Class 'E' player (that's 1000-1199), one must learn ... Silman's book emphasizes to the student that the important thing is to master the strictly limited material at hand, rather than get confused by endings that won't help your results at that level. Perhaps even more importantly, Silman is able to use his teaching experience and talk to his readers in a way that they can handle, in a friendly manner and without condescension. ..." - IM John Watson (2007)
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/theres-an-end-to-it-all
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103149/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review594.pdf
https://www.silmanjamespress.com/shop/chess/silmans-complete-endgame-course/
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-winning-chess-endings
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092759/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/improvend.txt
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708100546/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review631.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Practical-Endgame-Play-p3494.htm
https://www.chess.com/article/view/quotendgame-strategyquot-by-mikhail-shereshevsky
MGT88 wrote:
I already have read a few books by yasser seirawan already and they are fantastic. very informative without being too overwhelming like i have noticed with others so maybe your recommendation will go into the amazon basket as well as silmans. it does sound like silmans is perfect though from your description so that is definitely being ordered ASAP. thank you
I own the book; it is suitable for all levels because it is broken into what you should know by rating (e.g., 1000 ELO player should know X, 1200 should know X, etc.). If I had to recommend a single endgame book to a new player it would probably be this book; if he can afford additional books, then I would also recommend “Winning Chess Endings” by Yasser, “Improve Your Endgame Play” by Flear, and “Practical Endgame Play - Mastering the Basics” by Grivas.
kindaspongey wrote:
Sounds as though you may be comfortable with an "explanation" book like that of Silman who started with relatively simple positions
definitely is the sort of material i am after. i feel like i get very little from some books and even some lessons on here because i dont fully understand or even know about certain principles and what i should ideally be looking for; how can one make the right moves in those circumstances? in particular with end games, i feel i am playing not only blind, but also trying to come up with an idea without knowing what piece or pawn that idea should revolve around. explanations and principles are a must for me i think, rather than delving into a 20 move line where the concepts are lost, it doesnt do anything for me
HarryTaylor1511 wrote:
… thinking of getting it for christmas, but unsure if it is out of my depth and should learn something else first. does it describe positions and strategies and what you should aim for which typically is what i am after. or is it 500 pages worth of random positions, pull out the board and work it out type of book?
Sounds as though you may be comfortable with an "explanation" book like that of Silman who started with relatively simple positions (perhaps "random" to some people) and worked his way up to more complicated ones. The book does have exercises, but there are also a lot of examples with descriptions of what to aim for.
"... I believe that Jeremy Silman's Silman’s Complete Endgame Course ... deserved strong consideration for the 2007 ECF Book of the Year award; see the two books above. ... I'm convinced that Silman's book will take its place in history as one of the most popular endgame books ever. It has already caught on with the average player in a big way, confirming Silman's status as the king of instructional writers. He writes in a clear and casual style, and time and again has shown the ability to reach those who feel intimidated by the lofty approach that a grandmaster will often take. ... Silman ... defines what he thinks is necessary to know at specific rating levels. For example, the beginner or unrated player needs to know ... Silman's idea is to wait until you climb in strength before you worry about more advanced material. Then, as a Class 'E' player (that's 1000-1199), one must learn ... Silman's book emphasizes to the student that the important thing is to master the strictly limited material at hand, rather than get confused by endings that won't help your results at that level. Perhaps even more importantly, Silman is able to use his teaching experience and talk to his readers in a way that they can handle, in a friendly manner and without condescension. ..." - IM John Watson (2007)
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/theres-an-end-to-it-all
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103149/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review594.pdf
https://www.silmanjamespress.com/shop/chess/silmans-complete-endgame-course/
that reply was terrible. 😂 sorry. my reply is in there somewhere
HarryTaylor1511 wrote:
… definitely is the sort of material i am after. i feel like i get very little from some books and even some lessons on here because i dont fully understand or even know about certain principles and what i should ideally be looking for; how can one make the right moves in those circumstances? in particular with end games, i feel i am playing not only blind, but also trying to come up with an idea without knowing what piece or pawn that idea should revolve around. explanations and principles are a must for me i think, rather than delving into a 20 move line where the concepts are lost, it doesnt do anything for me
My guess is that Silman
https://www.silmanjamespress.com/shop/chess/silmans-complete-endgame-course/
would be your best choice, although the Seirawan
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-winning-chess-endings
and Flear
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092759/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/improvend.txt
books also sound promising. I guess you could also try First Steps Fundamental Endings.
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7742.pdf
Just as a note, Silman recommends the Grivas book as a follow-up to his own “Complete Endgame Course” book: http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Practical-Endgame-Play-p3494.htm
Another thing I would note is that Silman and Yasser have collaborated quite a bit (I believe Silman actually helped write the “Winning Chess” series), so if you like Yasser, I assume you will like Silman (since you were already reading some Silman!). Regarding “Improve Your Endgame Game Play” by Flear, this was a recommendation from the GMs at the “International Chess School”; it is a pretty quick/easy read, I enjoyed it and intend to read the follow-up which is “Mastering the Endgame” by Flear.
The Silman endgame book is very good. I recommend using The Study section in Lichess together with the book. Just find one you like, since users make them the quality will vary. https://lichess.org/study/search?q=Silman+endgame+course Read the book and click through the moves and you will save time since you doesn't need to use a physical board.
2Late4Work skrev:
The Silman endgame book is very good. I recommend using The Study section in Lichess together with the book. Just find one you like, since users make them the quality will vary. https://lichess.org/study/search?q=Silman+endgame+course Read the book and click through the moves and you will save time since you doesn't need to use a physical board.