My two biggest problems when i'm studying are these, endgames, and positional chess. (i'll not talk about positional chess here though). For tactics it's simple. Do problems online, problems from a book, stuff like that. In fact tactics is probably close to my best thing in a chess game. Grinding away an opponent can be done, but tactics do it quick. Anyway my problem is with endgames, i have a basic knowledge of how to go about winning or drawing endgames, however i want an excellent knowledge of this. My question is how do you study endgames? I'm not looking for stuff like "I read books on them" or "i look at endgame positions" i'm looking for practical advice which may involve getting a book, and it may not. Book recammendations, game recamendations, or simply what you go to when you study endgames.

I stopped studying chess a while ago, so I may not know exactly what is the best, but still, what endgames would you like to know? Because there are countless of endgame positions.

Endgames: Dvoretski's Endgame University!!! A brillant and very instructive book.

Positional chess: Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy- John Watson

Those 2 books are really brillant and you will definetly play better chess after you red them and understand them.

Cheers, Till

To add to the list: Silman's Complete Endgame Course by Jeremy Silman. This will give you most of what you need to know.

I haven't had much time to study recently, but I would sometimes apply the pattern recognition approach of learning openings to learning endings. So, basically, you just play through master games in any endgame that you want to learn more about, and see what the common ideas / strategies are.

For another interesting endgame study method, you could use an engine to analyze a particular endgame - engines are very helpful in this regard because, at higher depths, they reveal quite brilliant endgame ideas.

Of course, the above two suggestions should act as nothing more than a supplement to the above posters' recommendations. The endgame books mentioned will most probably triple your endgame knowledge, if not more.

Silmans Complete Endgame Course

Techniques of Positional Play - 45 Practical Methods To Gain The Upper Hand In Chess

I often read that engines are at their weakest in endgames; great at tactics, but bad at deciding what the overall endgame strategy should be.

Sounds like me, strong on analytics and tactics and weak on the positional side of the game.  I would suggest you play to your strenghts and treat the diagrams from an endgame book as puzzles and try to analyze to solve.  This will get you great at specific endgame positions, a major component of endgame play.

Although I have been repeatedly solving positions from Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual, I am sure other endgame books will also work.

No doubt engines are a great learning tool.  But until someone that fully depends on them can explain exactly what advantage they have when the engine tells them they have an advantage of .6 pawns, they wont help your game.

Reading books and talking to stronger players is a huge help.

Ok, but you don't want that.  Really the only other way is set up practice positions and try it out vs a human opponent.  I know some guys at my club who enjoy doing some analysis.  Some guy will bring a position or game and we'll analyze for a while (before getting to the blitz games ;)

The point I made is a bit controversial, but engines are a huge help to stronger players. Of course, if you're a beginner, these pawn advantages mean close to nothing because you're going to lose your queen a few moves later anyway. However, I am sure that a player of CP's strength could make much better use of an engine - let it run on some Rook + 3 pawns vs. Rook + 4 pawns endgame + the defending side's king is cut off and see how it draws it. 

This position is probably drawn, but it's not so simple to hold in practice:

Silman is a great primer for Dvoretsky, for someone relatively new to endgames.

And DEM isn't the end of End Games.  Just an extension of the start.

I really like Alex Yermolinsky's videos on Endgames.  Thats the proper stuff. 

1234 Modern Endgame Studies - Lommer and Sutherland

Test Your Endgame Ability - Speelman And Livshits

Similiar format books. The latter possibly influenced by the former. You should work through the last first. Timed studies of practical endgame compositions. You will work hard and not just go throught the motions of just working through a book. Follow this advice and you won't go wrong.

Have you ever read the Silman "trash"?

Silman's Endgame Course is certainly a primer for DEM.  It is definitely not a question of Silman vs Dvoretsky.  I have spent over 6 months solving (and repeatedly re-solving) problems from DEM and I am only half way through.  As a break, I worked through solving all of the problems in Silman's book in about 2 weeks.

If I can get through the other half of DEM, I am finished with with studying precise endgame positions for my life.  I'll tackle other aspects of endgames (e.g., planning, technique) or re-work through DEM again, but I'll let the IMs and GMs tackle whatever precise positions lie beyond.

It's not meant to cover every single ending, it's just for learning what's important to know and what's practical. And what do you mean by "pure"? Do you mean pawnless endings?

silman is awesome

He has queen endings in the Master section of the book. Also, knight endings don't necessarily need to be taught. Every time I get one, I just play it by using basic endgame principles and keeping an eye open for tactics (like winning a pawn or simplification to a winning pawn ending).

I understand we all have an opinion on things, but to call Silmans end game book "trash" is rediculous, and not true.  While you may not like it, it is an excellent book to learn endings, and a great primer for more advanced end game books.

here is my failure of trying to draw rook +3 pawns vs rook +4 pawns

Also we played the time control 30 + 2.