Published by GAMBIT

 

 

 

 

 

Lars Bo Hansen is a well-known grandmaster from Denmark. He has won the Danish Championship on two occasions, and represented his country in four olympiads, winning a bronze medal for his individual performance in 1990. His many tournament victories include first prize in the strong Copenhagen Open in both 1997 and 2000. Away from the board, he teaches and lectures on business studies, with a particular focus on marketing, organization and strategy. This is his second book for Gambit.

 

 

 

A large proportion of chess games are decided in the endgame or in the transition to the endgame, but chess literature has provided relatively little guidance for players seeking to improve their skill in making the vital decisions in these phases of the game.

 

 

 

Building on the ideas introduced in his ground-breaking work 'Foundations of Chess Strategy', Lars Bo Hansen provides a thought-provoking and convincing treatise on how players can maximize the practical problems for their opponents while emphasizing the strengths of their own position. Under his guidance, chess-players will more easily focus on the key elements in the position, and devise plans for exploiting them to the full, and develop a better understanding of which pieces need to be exchanged, and which weaknesses really matter.

 

Unlike many of the endgame books out today, this book focuses more on 'Strategic Endgames'  than on 'Technical Endgames'

 

 

 

'Strategic endgames' are endgames in which the result is still 'in play' - meaning that you cannot look the position up in an endgame book or find a database telling you the 'right' result and how to achieve it.  In these types of endgames, knowledge and understanding of the general principles are needed.  Examples would include positions where a player is trying to exploit the advantage of the bishop pair, or a player trying to defend a position with a spoiled pawn-structure.  It might be clear that one of the players has an advantage and is playing for the win, but the exact way to continue and the final result are still in doubt.  At some point a strategic endgame will turn into a technical endgame.

 

 

 

'Technical endgames' are endgames where the final result is clear even against best play and which can be found in endgame literature.  Examples may include rook and pawn against rook, or queen against rook.  For any given position the result is known and the correct way to proceed for the win (or draw) is shown.  Consequently, most endgames start out as strategic and only later do they become technical.

 

This book is divided into three parts.

 

 

 

In part 1 Lars Bo Hansen gives 15 important general endgame principles underlying successful play in the (strategic) endgame followed by several clear examples for each of the 15 principles.

 

 

 

In part 2 the principles are developed further in the context of typical endgame material distributions. Which includes: The Role of Pawns in the Endgame, The Minor Pieces in the Endgame - Bishops and Knights, The major pieces in the Endgame - Queens and Rooks, Various Material Distributions, and Complex Endgames.

 

 

 

Part 3 is devoted to explaining the 4 different kinds of players (activists, pragmatics, theorists, and reflectors) and how they approach the endgame.

 

 

 

An excellent book!  One of the best endgame strategy books available.  A study of it will greatly improve your endgame technique and get you the wins you deserve!

 

 

 

 

 

NSG rating = 10 of 10