Che cosa bisogna sapere sui finali. I finali di scacchi essenziali per tutti i giocatori

by Yuri Averbakh

“...quante volte ho avuto occasione di osservare come molti giocatori preparati in apertura e abili nel mediogioco, dopo uno scambio di pezzi e l’approdo in finale, crollavano perdendo finali elementari.”
L’autore, partendo da questa considerazione mentre stava approntando la sua più importante opera enciclopedica sui finali per giocatori di alto livello, decise di impegnarsi anche nella preparazione di un volume sui finali essenziali, in modo che chiunque, al di là della massa delle informazioni, potesse avere una guida precisa.

Genres: Chess

111 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 1966

About the author

Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (Russian: Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х; born February 8, 1922) is a Russian chess player and author. He is the oldest living chess grandmaster. He was chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978.

Reviews

[Arlen]

This is the best endgame primer I've ever run across. In just a few pages, the author (renowned Soviet GM and endgame expert Yuri Averbakh) makes very clear the winning methods for simple endgame positions. These are the kind of methods players need to memorize, to use them to calculate more complicated endgames properly.

The material is well-organized and thoughtful, and the teaching very clear and precise. Especially for its price, it is one of essential parts of any serious chessplayer's library.

I can't count the number of games I've saved, and even won, against players who had not studied the endgames put forward here.

[Robert]

When I was looking for the "tinniest" book about the chess endgame for my students, I concluded that this the right title for them.
Averbakh has just covered the bare minimum one must know about final phase of the game.
Funny, but my club-mate, who is also a GM, didn't know that the position on the page 53 - diagram 78 (in the algebraic edition of the book) is actually a simple draw.

[Akshay Basavaraj]

I have a very strong opinion about this book and that is if you cannot be bothered to complete this book, you should quit playing competitive chess. This book is 100 pages worth of endgame positions which should be in the back of a player's head. On average, it takes 5-6 hours to complete this book entirely, hence my first sentence of this review.

[Neil Limbert]

Very good! Trying to distill “essential” knowledge into a book only 108 pages long is difficult but they have done a good job. I worked through the book with a board doing a little bit each day and it only took me 16 days to finish. I hope some of the knowledge rubs off!

[Howard Osterman]

Excellent first leap into the world of Endings.
Clear concise; not overpowering. Seirawan’s ‘Winning Chess Endings’ is another great starting point.

[Mark Kaprielian]

This book shows you some of the tougher endings. Situations such as mating with two bishops or bishop and night are shown. While it shows you many useful endings, I find this book a bit tough to read as it is short on explanation. It's a thin and small book but its packed.

[Hydra]

Gaat je veel winstpunten vanuit het eindspel opleveren.

[S]

To quote World Champion J.R. Capablanca:

“In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else, for whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame.”

Beginners who start here learn how the pieces move and the bare minimum a tournament player must know according to the (former, R.I.P.) leading expert on endgames. That said, this book really only covers theoretical knowledge. I found the section on practical play (i.e. how to navigate multipiece endgames that haven't reached the clarity of the endgames taught here) underwhelming. Though covering that, in my view, would only be useful to those who already have a "feel" for endgames. There's an intuitive element to practical endgame play that can't be fully taught, but theoretical knowledge is useful for all players.

1

[Diego]

Estoy leyendo este libro para fundamentar una parte de mi tesis. Es un libro algo denso, pero muy práctico para aprender estragias bastante útiles al final de una partida de ajedrez. Recomendable si eres iniciado en el juego, más no eres de un nivel intermedio.