Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual new released at Chessable

Hi guys, most of us heard already about Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual. I bought once the German edition, titled Die Endspieluniversität, but was somehow intimidated by the huge amount of material in book. I guess that at this time I simply didn't have the discipline needed to go through such a book. I remember that I was trying to understand different cases of correspondence squares, and I felt too stupid to analyze the positions to find out which squares correspond and which plan I should use to win. So I was using the book mostly in Daily Chess, and I could save a lot of points in the endgames with this book (recently I lost the quality and went in an endgame with B + N and three pawns against R+N and two pawns. Dvoretsky told me that I could make a draw in an endgame with only one pawn, perhaps with two, but not with three. So I chose a line where I exchanged pawns and I hold the game - my opponent saw that he had to sac his rook to avoid my pawn promoting).

When I heard that Chessable released the book my first thought was "No, this time not!". Nevertheless I took the German edition from the bookshelf and had a look. The first thing I noted is that this specific book is much easier to understand than most of his books.

Second, I saw that the principle of corresponcence squares was not so difficult to understand as I thought in 2002 (is it because in the meantime I am  a better player? Or I just took more time to understand the idea? I don't know). 

I went to the discussions about the book, some of them in chess.com, and I heard from some people who think that they really improved calculation with the book, although in the meantime they probably forgot a lot from what they learned.

Okay, I thought, first at all, why should a weak player like me invest so much time in endgames?

There are several good good reasons. As mentioned before, several good players improved a lot their calculation's skills (the first guy who said this was Dvoretky - he saw that he began to play better chess after preparing endgame lessons for trainers; Yussupov and Aagaard said exactly the same). With few pieces on the board, calculation is easier (well, still difficult enough for me, but easier) than calculating variations with a full board. In this book Dvoretsky show only positions with maximal one piece (pawns, and King plus one B, or one N, or one R, or one Q); you will not find in this book positions with several pieces. 

The other reason is that in Chessable I will really learn the stuff, as there I can train using spaced repetition. As I don't have a good memorize (and I am already 56 years old) I need spaced repetition to memorize things.  

The last reason is that Chessable has a new function: "we launched a completely new feature/setting for this course, called "Learn important only". It is enabled by default, and it allows you to study only the "blue highlighted" lines that Dvoretsky himself deemed essential to memorize."

This is absolutely fantastic, as it reduces immensely the material to be learned. You can later go back to the other stuff, but first you have to finish the most relevant parts of the book.

I copy-pasted the text from Chessable so you can have some more information about the Chessable-edition of this famous book:

A true classic, now on Chessable

When you are serious about improving your endgame skills, it is time for Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual. 

Perhaps the best known and most respected instructor of world class chessplayers, the late Mark Dvoretsky produced a comprehensive work on the endgame that will reward players of all strengths. 

For those ready to immerse themselves in endgame theory, there may be no better manual available today. But, even if you do not play at master level, the book has been designed to help your endgame too. 

Newly-adapted for Chessable

Before it's release on Chessable, Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual was by far and away the most requested course among our members. 

Converting it was the biggest project we have yet undertaken and we took special care to ensure it is presented exactly the way Mark Dvoretsky intended in print. 

Just like the original, basic theories and "must-know" concepts are highlighted in blue so you can skip the more complex analysis, focus on the text in blue, and still improve your endgame technique. 

New features

To make this easier, we launched a completely new feature/setting for this course, called "Learn important only". It is enabled by default, and it allows you to study only the "blue highlighted" lines that Dvoretsky himself deemed essential to memorize. 

When the print edition first appeared in 2003, Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual was immediately recognized by novice and master alike as one of the best books ever published on the endgame. 

By the time the Fourth Edition was released it was enlarged and revised. Now on Chessable it is better than ever! 

A timeless classic

Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual covers absolutely everything you could every possibly need to know about the endgame in the author's crisp and clear style. It is the course that will serve you for a lifetime. 

John Watson, reviewing Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual at The Week In Chess, said: "Dvoretsky's analysis is staggering in its depth and accuracy." 

In the preface, Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard said: "What really impresses me is the deep level of analysis in the book, All I can say is: This is a great book. I hope it will bring you as much pleasure as it has me." 

Erik Sobjerg, for Seagaard Chess Reviews, said: "This is an extraordinary good chess book. To call this the best book on endgames ever written seems to be an opinion shared by almost all reviewers and commentators. And I must say that I am not to disagree." 

And in the Washington Post, Lubomir Kavalek said: "[It] comes close to an ultimate one-volume manual on the endgame." 

Make no mistake, this is widely-recognised as one of the best chess books ever. But our version is even better - it has all the beauty of Dvoretsky's words with the unique ability to train it!

PS The book is on intro sale for a couple of days! If you want to purchase it, don't wait too long.

I'm confused. My copy of the book came with a disk which I downloaded and used with Chessbase. 

Is Chessable breaking copyright laws?

How is it groundbreaking if the very first edition already had the ability to be used in training on a computer?

Of course all books in Chessable are legal concerning copyright issues. The thing with Chessable is the possibility to train using spaced repetition. The author himself stressed the value of spaced repetition in chess training. 

http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/the-end-game-comes-before-we-know-it

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/2703.pdf

Chessable is regularly publishing books from Newinchess

I've bought it two days ago although I have to admit that I also have the paper version and the forward chess version. Now I have the pawn endings and knights vs. pawn completed in learning mode of the blue part (this can be chosen).

+ it really keeps you busy and you realize the hard way that there are some examples (e.g. 1-151) which look easy when you go through them but in test mode I tend to opt for the wrong square. This simply means I didn't understand it.

+ repetition seems to help a lot to play the endgame like a machine some day

- test mode only goes for one variation and you have to consult the book mode (or in my case the forward chess version) to check for alternative moves. Here the mobile version is not as good as forward chess app.

Overall I'm really happy with it although there might be too many variations (for my skill level -otb 1700) even for the blue part which means that one might consider to opt for the "de la Villa" book - which is also available. Currently, I won't purchase that one as there might be an overload in repetition exercises. BUT I would definitely buy one of them at chessable again. I assume it works for me - without proof, yet.

I have de Vila’s book and worked a lot with it, but in the last months I decided that I have to improve my tactics before doing something else.

I really want to work through all variations of Dvoresky’s book, mainly because I need badly to improve calculation. I am sure that if I work with both books my level in endgame will be far better than other parts of the game.

@kindaspongey gave a link to a good review by John Watson of DEM. I disagree slightly with Watson's comment about how difficult it is, but I do agree that for most people who really want to learn the endgame, perhaps Mueller and Lamprecht's Fundamental Chess Endings is a better place to start. DEM really is for advanced players, probably those who are already close to 2000 strength or beyond.

FCE is more encyclopedic, and contains many good examples and lessons for learning the basics.

Chessable is the pirate bay of chess. They seem to be copying and pasting books, specially opening ones. 

I have Van Perlos, and De la Villas books on chessable.

So true for me too: calculation is by far the weakest part of my game. Another book you might want to consider is Chess Calculation Training Volume 2: Endgames, by Romain Edouard. I've ordered volume 1, about calculation in the middle game, and if that is good I will order the endgame volume.

Great book, even for mid 1000s players.

I think you don’t know what you are talking about. 

DEM is completely different from FCE because it has few pieces. FCE is more an encyclopaedia. I use it for my Daily Chess games.

All correct. And the DEM is anything but suitable for class players: A really hard read.

I have Edouard’s book, but thought it is still a little bit difficult for me. I think DEM will be less difficult because you have few pieces on the board, making calculation feasible. But Edouard’s book is certainly the next one. His examples are interesting. I also have his The Chess Manual of Avoidable Mistakes, in two volumes. I didn’t work much with it.

Are you kidding? I was born knowing it all. 

I just look at the link on chessable. It seems Dvoretsky uploaded it himself. That is good to see. Seems like I may have an outdated view about chessable. 

I still wonder why people pay for chessable. Does not seem hard to make your own chessable for free.  That is topic for another day anyways.

In Chessable you also can play through the variations and use an engine, but you have to click twice to get to this option. I am doing do all the time.

The big advantage of Chessable is the possibility of review the stuff by spaced repetition. For example, I am working with books where I am able to answer correctly almost all continuations instantly. (One book on tactics for beginners and one 1.d4 repertoire).

Some people know so well some books like Vila’s endgame that they can now go through all positions in blitz modus without making mistakes.