Nunn’s Chess Endings Volume 1
(Gambit Publications, 320 pages)
Last year we reviewed John Nunn’s new endgame book Understanding
Chess Endgames. That review explained how the author had decided to
write a detailed endgame book, but soon ran into a problem: “The idea was,"
he wrote, "that an introductory chapter would give a brief survey of this
‘presumed knowledge’ so that I would not have to explain it in the main body
of the book. However, it quickly became clear that this ‘introductory chapter’
would be more like a book in itself, so I put the main project to one side and
started to think about how this introductory chapter could be turned into a
useful book.”
The earlier book out of the way, John continued work on the main project, and
now we have the first of two volumes of Nunn’s Chess Endings. The second
volume, containing an even chunkier 352 pages, is scheduled to appear in the
autumn. The two volumes are divided by material, with the first containing all
endings without rooks and the second covering those with rooks.
The book starts with two introductory chapters, the first an introduction explaining
the philosophy behind the book and the second an essay on the qualities required
for successful endgame play. There are then 114 pages on pawn endings, 149 pages
on minor-piece endings and 27 pages on queen endings.
Nunn
explains right at the start that he is assuming readers possess a certain level
of endgame knowledge (that which can be obtained by reading Understanding
Chess Endgames or another book aimed at a similar level). He is therefore
able to omit much elementary material in the present book, which allows him
to start at a more advanced point and cover topics in a depth which is not normally
possible. It follows that this book is not aimed at beginners, and readers should
be of club standard or above to appreciate it.
Nunn’s Chess Endgames is not an encyclopaedia which covers the endgame
on a case by case basis, but an instructional text which seeks to explain general
unifying concepts which apply in many endgame situations. To be sure, some of
these concepts apply mainly in one particular type of endgame (reserve tempi,
for example, are usually only relevant in king and pawn endings), but there
are linking threads which run through his treatment.
A book of a particular size can contain a large number of positions with shallow
analysis or a smaller number of positions with detailed analysis. Nunn’s book
definitely falls into the latter category, with each position being explored
in great detail. He is at pains to explain the concepts in each example using
words, but then goes on to back this up with concrete variations. As he points
out in the introduction, it is easy to be seduced by a superficially convincing
explanation which concrete analysis shows to be totally false.
Each chapter of the book is divided into a number of sections and subsections,
with a summary at the end of each. This divides up the material into manageable
chunks and a dedicated reader would probably go through one section each day.
Nunn makes the point that theoretical examples are specifically designed to
be clear-cut, with all the pieces optimally placed, but in actual play one often
encounters difficulties which are rarely covered in theoretical works. His exclusive
use of genuine practical examples allows him to present a more realistic view
of many endgame themes.
Understanding Chess Endgames proved disappointing in only one respect:
the lack of reciprocal zugzwangs. I am delighted to report that this is remedied
in Nunn’s Chess Endgames. This is all the more surprising in that Nunn’s
Chess Endgames contains only examples from practical play (over-the-board
or correspondence) and includes no studies or composed positions. Nunn himself
seemed surprised at the frequency with which such zugzwangs appear in ordinary
positions and it may well be that he is correct when he hints that tactical
ideas occur in the endgame more often than most players suspect – it’s
just that they are often overlooked.
This reviewer is not equipped to comment on the accuracy of Nunn’s analysis,
but the Doctor is generally regarded as an accurate analyst and I have no reason
to suspect that this book does not match his usual standard. The contents of
Nunn’s Chess Endgames are firmly aimed at improving the reader’s endgame
play, and although one sometimes suspects that he would have liked to explore
some more esoteric by-ways, in this book he remains focussed on purely practical
instruction and advice.
Frederic Friedel
Here’s an extract from the section entitled ‘Active King vs Outside Passed
Pawn’.
It often happens that the players have competing advantages and a common combination
is the struggle of an active king against an outside passed pawn. Situations
like this are quite interesting because it sometimes isn’t even clear who has
the advantage, and small differences can have a big impact on the result. In
the first example, while there is little doubt who stands better, the position
was complicated enough to baffle the players and annotator Cvetkovic.
B. Maksimovic - Cabrilo
Yugoslavia 1974
In this position White has the outside passed pawn(s), but Black’s more active
king position means that only he has winning chances.
1...Kf3? In Informator 18, Cvetkovic gives this move an exclamation
mark, but it throws away the win. The correct plan is simply to play the king
to g5: 1...Kf5! (it’s also good to start with 1...b4!) 2 Kf2 (after 2 b4 Kg5
3 Kf2 Kh4 4 Kg2 f3+ 5 Kxf3 Kxh3 Black wins as it’s a long way to take the f7-pawn)
2...Kg5 3 Kf3 b4! (an important move, gaining a tempo when the kings rush to
the queenside; the immediate 3...Kh4? leads to a draw after 4 Kxf4 Kxh3 5 Kf5
Kxh2 6 Kf6 Kg3 7 Kxf7 Kf4 8 Ke6 Ke4 9 Kd6 Kd4 10 Kc6 Kc3 11 Kb6 Kxb3 12 Kxa6
b4 13 Kb7) 4 Ke4 Kh4 5 Kxf4 Kxh3 6 Kf5 Kxh2 7 Kf6 Kg3 8 Kxf7 Kf4 9 Ke6 Ke4 10
Kd6 Kd4 11 Kc6 Kc3 12 Kb6 Kxb3 13 Kxa6 (now we see the importance of the preliminary
...b4: Black has gained a crucial tempo) 13...Kc4 14 Kb7 b3 15 a6 b2 16 a7 b1Q+
(Black’s king is close enough to win this position) 17 Kc7 Qe4 18 Kb8 Qe8+ 19
Kb7 Kb5 20 a8Q Qd7+ 21 Kb8 Kb6 with a quick mate.
2 b4! This is actually a position of reciprocal zugzwang. It is Black
to play and he has nothing better than to push his rear f-pawn; however, this
means that White’s king can take it one move more quickly. 2...f6 3 h4 Kg4
4 Kf2 Kxh4 5 Kf3
5...Kh3. 5...Kg5 is also a draw after 6 h3! Kf5 7 h4 Ke5 8 Ke2! Ke4
9 Kf2 Kf5 (not 9...f3? 10 h5 Kf5 11 Kxf3 Kg5 12 Ke4 f5+ 13 Ke5 f4 14 h6 f3 15
h7 f2 16 h8Q f1Q 17 Qg7+ Kh5 18 Kd6 and White has a very favourable queen ending)
10 Kf3 and neither side can make progress.
6 Kxf4 Kxh2 7 Kf5 Kg3 8 Kxf6 Kf4 9 Ke6 Ke4 10 Kd6 Kd4 11 Kc6 Kc4 12 Kb6
Kxb4 13 Kxa6 Kc5. Relatively the best chance, but it should not be enough
to win. 14 Kb7 b4 15 a6 b3 16 a7 b2 17 a8Q b1Q+
18 Kc7?? A losing blunder, which is made quite often in practice. After
18 Kc8! Qf5+ 19 Kb8! Qe5+ 20 Ka7! Black is unable to win. The key point is that
White must never play his king to b7. 18...Qh7+ 19 Kc8. White loses at
once in the case of 19 Kb8 Kb6. 19...Qg8+ 20 Kb7 Qf7+ 21 Ka6 Qe6+ 0-1. After
22 Kb7 Qd7+ 23 Kb8 (23 Ka6 Qb5+ 24 Ka7 Qb6#) 23...Kb6, mate is inevitable. [Click
to replay]
In summary, Nunn’s Chess Endings is a very worthwhile addition
to endgame literature. It explores many topics relevant to practical play
and contains a wealth of useful information presented in an attractive
format.
The recommended price is £17.99 in the UK and $29.95 in the US, but it’s
currently available at £13.66 (including delivery to the UK) The
Book Depository; the London
Chess Center, Chess4Less
and for $19.77 from Amazon.
A PDF sample of the book can be downloaded here. |
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The second volume of Nunn’s Chess Endings contains 352 pages
and is scheduled to appear in the autumn. The two volumes are divided
by material, with the first containing all endings without rooks and the
second covering those with rooks.
Incidentally both book covers – and especially the second one –
were created by the author. John Nunn, as you might suspect, |
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