100 Endgames You Must Know: Vital Lessons for Every Chess Player Improved and Expanded

by Jesús de la Villa

There are, contrary to what most amateurs believe, relatively few chess endgames one must know. Jesus de la Villa, an international grandmaster and former champion of Spain, presents the endgames that show up most frequently in practice, are easy to learn and contain ideas and concepts that are useful in more difficult positions. He brings you simple rules, guiding ideas at the beginning of each chapter, detailed and lively explanations, many diagrams, clear summaries of the most important themes, recommended exercises that will help you understand the material, and tests, divided in two parts: basic and final. The main thing De la Villa asks of you is to always understand WHY you play a move.

Genres: Chess, Nonfiction, Reference, Games, Textbooks

220 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2008

Reviews

[David Tenemaza Kramaley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read and worked through the entire book on Chessable (the new interactive edition) https://www.chessable.com/endgame-boo... - I highly recommend it to chess players of all levels, but if you are a beginner, intermediate or casual player just start with Chapter 1 and 11 only. The others are more theoretical endgames that will probably not come in your games for a while.

After you master those pawn endings, the rook endgames are certainly useful. Of course, mating with Bishop and Knight is well fun too and I can now do so like a Master, but I'll be shocked if that ever comes up in any of my real games.. its more of a "cool" factor, I can do this.

Good luck!

[Kavin Nattavutthisit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike many Chess books, the knowledge from this book is easily absorbable. This big is a masterpiece, although not all Endgame knowledges were covered, everyone who reads this book will surely absorb one hundred percent of it's knowledge, just by reading it once! From my personal experience, many Chess books tends to try covering as many fields of knowledge as possible, but doesn't really dig deep into anything, and not digging into anything deep enough normally causes the reader to reread the book, since they are not able to remember anything from their first read. Also, I like very much the fact the Author spent time into making a very high quality introduction, unlike many other Authors that tends to squash useless stuff into the introduction just because they think no one reads it anyway. I advise Chess players that are looking to strengthen their endgame to read this book as your first endgame book, since it covers all the knowledge that you will get to use frequently into it's cores. Not only that, it will also make you remember themes of other endgame books easier, since it builds a very strong endgame basics for all it's readers.

[Isaac Clemente ríos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es el primer manual de finales que estudio y me ha parecido muy útil. Posiciones que se dan en muchas ocasiones y sobre todo, te ayuda a comprender el porqué de los movimientos.

Mi nota: 8/10

[Gary Patella · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains a lot of useful knowledge. Like many books of this nature, I don't believe everything can be learned from a single read. I will likely go over it again in the future. There are some positions that are explained very well (e.g. mate with knight and bishop). But there are some that could use more explanations.

My main gripe was that the puzzle section in the back seemed to have a lot of puzzles that could not be solved using the knowledge of the book. While this is typical of tactics books or pure tactics sections of books, for a book in this category, I would've liked explanations of the positions (or similar positions) either given in the puzzle solution or given somewhere in the book.

[maarten mellegers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erg bijzonder boek om al de verschillende soorten eindspelen op een rijtje te zien. De meeste kwamen uiteraard wel bekend maar er zaten wel een aantal voor mij onbekende toreneindspelen voorbij. Goede opbouw van het boek waarbij je van simpel naar lastige eindspelen gaat. Ook worden alle verschillende soorten eindspelen besproken dus ook de minst voorkomende zoals loper plus pion bijvoorbeeld. In de praktijk zul je mijn inziens vooral eindspelen met pionnen en toren tegenkomen. Maargoed dit boek vormt een ideaal overzicht voor de ideale clubspeler die zich de kunst van het eindspel eigen wil maken.

[William Schram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chess is complicated. A beginner to the game has a lot of rules to learn before they attain competence. A typical Chess game has three major sections; the Opening, the Middlegame, and the Endgame. Given all of this, how do you decide what to focus on first?

100 Endgames You Must Know is a book for a chess player at a certain level of skill. Jesus de la Villa goes straight into the significant positions with this book. The book doesn't go over the elementary endgames since it expects you to know those already. So if you picked up this book anticipating a method to checkmate with only a Queen and a King, you should look elsewhere.

Chess books are best when you follow the lines. Unless you have a great visual memory, you should have a physical board.

The book categorizes the endings and gives a general method to deal with them.

[Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jesus De La Villa doesn't only teach you new concepts but also makes sure you remember them. It should be called 100 endgames and extra. Tests are given to help you jump in the next time you read and at the end to see where your at. I read the book twice and only got 50% of the questions right. But that's a good thing because anyone can read the book. If you need a endgame book get this one.

[Kiroslavius]

This book would be extremely good If you can visualise and remeber multiple moves or if you play daily for multiple hours and have better player to try you, but in lot of beginers cases this is very hard or exhausting

[AbdElsatar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chess should be learned backwards, starting with the endgame, then the middlegame, and finally the opening.
A solid foundation in endgame technique is crucial for chess mastery. Therefore, it is often suggested to start by studying endgame principles before delving into the complexities of middlegame strategy and opening theory.
Mastering the endgame allows players to convert their advantages into wins and avoid losses from promising positions
De la Villa's "100 Endgames You Must Know" is a must-have for any chess player seeking to improve their endgame skills. This classic text provides a comprehensive collection of essential endgame positions, accompanied by clear explanations and practical advice. A valuable resource for players of all levels.
I've lost many games, even when I had a winning position, due to my lack of endgame knowledge. I often struggle to convert my advantage under time pressure or even when I have plenty of time.

وإليكم المراجعة باللغة العربية الجميلة:

يجب تعلم الشطرنج بشكل عكسي، بدءًا بالنهايات ثم منتصف الدور وأخيرًا الافتتاح.
إن فهم قواعد النهايات هو مفتاح إتقان الشطرنج. لذلك، يوصى بشدة بدراسة النهايات أولاً، ثم بناء على ذلك، الانتقال إلى مراحل اللعب الأخرى.
إن البدء بدراسة النهايات في الشطرنج، هو أفضل طريقة لبناء أساس قوي للعبة. فهذا النهج يمنحك الفهم العميق للمبادئ الأساسية التي تحكم النهايات، مما يساعدك على اتخاذ قرارات أفضل وتحقيق نتائج أفضل في جميع مراحل اللعبة.
وبالتالي تعرف ما تريد الوصول اليه في النهايات من أجل أن تحصر على نهاية دور رابحة تستطيع أن تكسبها بسهولة
أنا خسرت العديد من الادوار رغم انها وضع مكسب لي بسبب عدم معرفتي الجيدة بالنهايات وكيف أنهي الدور لي سواء تحت ضغط الوقت أو حتى عندما امتلك الوقت

[Mr. Twinkie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is not always easy to find a chess book that makes endgames easy and accessible. Many suggestions often bog down to a plural of random recommendations such as Mark Dvoretsky's endgame manual, which is extremely difficult to understand, or some superficial new endgame book. The latter is especially hillarious as endgame theory is pretty locked and rarely provides new ideas anymore.

Yet, Villa's book is probably the best book for any beginner to intermediate player. It is minded on actually teaching a player the endgames with good solid guidelines and not endless long variations. Variations are good for analysis, but far too many chess writers are lazy at just blandly throwing variations in the head of players. Yes, grandmasters might prefer them, but improving intermediates and beginners need more text when learning.

I still find it surprising that other people suggests heavy endgame encyclopaedia books when asked about good endgame books. It is like many chess players don't even read books. For those of us who do indulge in the classic ways of studying chess, aka using books, this books is a fundamental must. Once you have learned all this book can offer, you can move on to the more heavy books. Until then enjoy the learning process!

[Andreas Kontokanis · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is my 2nd time that I try to read this book. It is clearly a bad edited book. Maybe the collection of the endgames are good (but I am sure it could be better but even from the preface I send to the editor of the book some mistakes that I found. I don't know if they fixed it in the next edition but still was annoying. So this year I give it again a try after many years as I really wanted to like this book. And again the comments are annoying wrong. I always when I study a book I set up the position and before reading variations I think over the board (without engine). After I follow the analysis. In Chapter 1 I read the comment everything was forced until now...I don't see why the variation was forced. I open my computer and I check if my moves and analysis is wrong (I am ~1500 otb player but this is not my first endgame book) and of course nothing was forced. The book was published without serious editing. So I am not sure if it is the best book for endgames or if the collection is good but still it is annoying.

[Ramsis · Rating 5 out of 5]

've always known that this book is supposed to be one of the best practical endgame books to study. However, I don't own it and haven't looked into it until now.

Having spent quite a few hours with the book now it seems like a perfect match for the training power of chessable. I remember going over some of these endgames before at various times in my chess career and in varying detail. However, without training them I only vaguely remembered how to handle the situations. By going through these endgames now, with training, in the same amount (or less) overall time I'm much more confident that if I face them over the board later on I will have the most important patterns/ideas fully internalized and am much, much more likely to win or hold a game based on them.

So far, a great book and in my opinion the single most valuable (and it's not close) addition to the chessable library.

[Haraldohoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous chess book, clear, deeply knowledgeable and well thought out.

It has taken 2-4 hours of study every day, seven days a week, for nine weeks to get through the 100. And i am frazzled, but i feel i have a body of vital, organized knowledge under my belt.

It is already helping me in all my chess, not just endgames, as i now understand much more clearly how different pieces dance together to add new effective qualities and resources to my game.

I shall continue drilling the positions on the Chessable website for the next 6 weeks intensively, then less intensively for the next few months.

[Joel Rockey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is often considered "the must read" book on endgames. It's good, but it's certainly not the best. For starters, it should be called "400 Technical Endgames You Should Be Aware Of".

The beginning chapters were fantastic, but as the book progresses, the difficulty and impracticality of actually memorizing these endgames becomes a reality. At my level (1700 USCF), it's simply not practical to memorize all these technical endgames. Maybe at master level it might be, but definitely not at club level.

I'm still glad I read it. Giving it 4 stars since 3 stars seemed a little petty.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, that was an incredibly thorough book. I think I worked on it for about a year. During that time, my improved endgame play led to more wins online, so the work has certainly paid off. I'd recommend going through this one on chessable.com. That site setting up the board was a huge time-saver, and made study much easier (although some positions still warranted more consideration, so I'd set then up in an engine or put them on the board). I'd definitely recommend this for the intermediate player, or even for a more advanced player needing to brush up some endgames.

[Andre Hermanto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good:
* Supposedly contains only the core 100 endgame themes that everyone must know.
* Clear and concise explanation.

Bad:
* Some of those 100+ endgames are very rare in practice, a fact that's acknowledged by the author himself. If some of them almost never occur, at the very least the book should make it clear which ones are must know and which ones are optional.
* Some important endgames such as Philidor and Lucena positions are placed later in the book.

[Jonatan Sotelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

De los libros de finales que consulté, me parece el más didáctico. Si bien algunos son más necesarios que otros, los parámetros que ofrece para poder comprenderlos son muy interesantes. Recomendable libro.

[Duarte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uma abordagem muito boa a finais. Compreensível para todos os níveis se estudado com atenção (de preferência com um tabuleiro físico). Primeiro livro de xadrez que li!!

[Mohammed Aymen ALI TALEB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some puzzles aren't explained in deep. They give you the solution but they don't really explain why it works. However, you can still learn a lot from this book.

[Jasper Riogeist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extensive

[Nizar Hukic · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.7 ⭐

[Kaustubh J]

I don't know the 100 endgames tbh

[Finlay · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a reason this is a classic, and I have learned so much from it, especially developing a better intuition for some "simple" cases. That said, it doesn't always explain the "why" of all moves and it's not obvious (as a beginner) if this is a waiting move that could be played anywhere, or if it's critical to be the move shown. With that in mind, beware of memorizing the sequences – practice everything against an engine. You'll probably find you don't understand it as fully as you thought.

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend the interactive version of this book on Chessable (I think mentioned in other reviews). It does help to play out some of the positions with a real board even if you've done tons of Chessable repeats since the text on paper is just much easier to read for some of the more complicated positions.

[Alex Vasai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely helpful book for an intermediate-level player like me...Some of the endgames are really hard to learn (the ones with the rooks) but it is an useful tool to come back to, after a misjudged endgame.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

good book, beyond my capabilities

[Bishoy M. Farag · Rating 3 out of 5]

very bad book and not organizing in his ideas