Why Chess Endings are FAR MORE IMPORTANT than Chess Openings

Both are equally important...

You need to get outta the chess opening to get to the endgame. IOW's, the opening is oo more important than the endgame. I mean, e.g., why study endgames if you're about to play Monster Carlsen ?

I would be interested to know what the forum considers to be the absolute essential endgame knowledge for a club player.  I have read on this site that some consider it to be around 200 positions (Dvoretsky?) while books I have read state that its around two dozen (Andrew Soltis)

Essential Chess Engames Explained Move by Move, by J. Silman

Chess Endings, Essential Knowledge, by Y. Averbakh.

Indeed, lots of good endgame books are available.  GM John Nunn's many books are recommended --

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Chess-Endgames-John-Nunn/dp/1906454116

Peter Lalic's youtube videos cover the absolute basics, for free. 

Oh no! 

Hard to say because for some you don't really need to know more than the ideas (as a club player). For others you'd want to know some specific positions and move orders.

You might say 200 ideas, and two dozen positions ;)

Like R+3 vs R+4 is often a draw while R+5 vs R+4 is often a win. Then see the Capa-Yates game. No need to go for in depth analysis, just to have seen the game and have that general knowledge.

Then in the mid game you're a better judge of which trades and pawn moves enhance or diminish your winning chances. Once you reach your desired position you won't play it perfectly... but neither will your club-level opponent.

Pandolfini's endgame book covers almost all of these. I don't like the format, but you can def play them out against the computer. I've played out almost all the pawn and rook ones you mentioned, have played out a bunch simple Q endgames, but have a ways to go on the Ns and Bs. 

Most of those endgames are easy enough to setup on your own, anyway - the books help with the critical sidelines that the computer might never play but a human would likely play. 

The Dvoretsky book is TERRIBLE for basic stuff like this. He skips almost all of it, assuming that you know it all already, and pretty well, and goes right into complex problems. (Ok, he'll give you like ONE simple example problem but that's it!) On the bright side, even if you're an endgame patzer like myself, you can have the computer pummel you into learning what features of the position are critical (like that passed pawn you were ignoring..)

"... I believe that Jeremy Silman's Silman’s Complete Endgame Course (subtitled From Beginner to Master) deserved strong consideration for the 2007 ECF Book of the Year award; ... Instead of merely making the examples increasingly complex, he defines what he thinks is necessary to know at specific rating levels. ..." - IM John Watson (2007)

http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/theres-an-end-to-it-all

I second ylblai2. Im not a fan of Silman's middlegame books. But his endgame book was really good. Each chapter is what is essential for each level of players.

All I want to say is that one thing worth asking here is who studies endgames. I find that many young prodigies and kids who gain lots of rating points do so because they study tactics, middlegames, and openings, and rarely spend a huge amount of time on endgames. They probably analyze their own games to death, and probably with coaches who can show them the right moves in their endgames, but are they reading through Silman's or Dvoretsky's books? Hell no. The only people who are likely to be doing those things are older players...and older players don't actually gain elo rating (actually most people lose elo past a certain age). Many young players make 2200 without a great understanding of the endgame, frankly because usually someone has a big advantage going into the endgames and so they rarely require advanced technique.

The kids in my club have classes where endgames is an important part of their studies.

And I am an old man who is going to increase 200 elo soon. Maybe during this year.

You are an "old man who is going to increase 200 elo soon"?

With all due respect, what you're "going to" do is never evidence of anything. If you actually accomplish your goal, then we'll talk.

"All I want to say is that one thing worth asking here is who studies endgames."

Chess players that want to improve, thats who.

Most children don't spend much time studying endgames, and most chessplayers who aren't children never improve.

I start all my students off with Opening Principles, and endgames.

@Diakonia you have students?

Let's see how they do I guess

What i do know is that the ones that start with opening principles and ending knowledge advance faster than the ones that want to learn openings first.  

I am 14 and trying to improve asap. 

I am already busy with the following books:

(I read and study in order then move on to the next)

My System

Chess praxis

New York 1924

Silmans endgame

Dvoretskys endgame

as well as some opening books I read at the same time (I think studying both middlegames and openings at the same time is OK)

Should I read that book also? Seems like it would take a long time.