Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner to Master Paperback – Illustrated, November 1, 2006

La forma en la que explica Jeremy Silman hace divertida la lectura y no voy a mentir, toda lectura de ajedrez es bastante pesada sin importar el esfuerzo que haga el autor. Depende de uno mismo. Las lecturas se van volviendo más fáciles de llevar con la práctica, pero ya que supongo que estas buscando empezar te recomiendo acompañar las lecciones con videos de YT, esto hará que se te haga más fácil seguir avanzando. Otra recomendación es que coloques las posiciones en el analizador de tu plataforma favorita (Prefiero Lichess) y las juegues contra el ordenador hasta que las entiendas a profundidad, esto acompañado con videos te dará motivación para seguir. No te preocupes por los ejercicios de práctica, déjalos todos para el final, buscas conocer las ideas y finales más básicos que otros libros dan por aprendidos. Las ideas y la forma en la que Silman explican me parecen lo más importante ya que esto es lo que utilizaras luego para estudiar los 100 finales que debes saber de Jesús De la Villa. Puedes ir directamente a ellos, pero este libro te da una base muy interesante. Intenta darle sentido a tu manera, no todo es absoluto y las reglas no funcionan si no las entiendes, adáptalas a tu ser, créales historias de ser necesario, en fin, que te hagan sentido a ti y a tu forma de ver las cosas. A mí en lo personal no me interesa tanto la estética en un libro, prefiero el contenido, pero este libro les pone la vara muy alta a otros en cuestión de apariencia y diría que hasta en tacto. La portada es una locura, se ve muy linda y la textura es super extraña, se siente suave y mate a la vez, nunca había visto un libro así por ende no se explicarlo, muy, pero que muy lindo.

Excellent book! Lots of great info!

First let me say that some of the criticisms others have mentioned are true. As Mr. Harding says, this book doesn't have many examples of more complex endings. Ideas like pawn breakthroughs, etc. are certainly covered in this book, but until you see them in more complex settings you probably won't fully appreciate the concept. Van Perlo's book "Endgame Tactics" covers this kind of thing much better. I guess it can be said that this is a book about theoretical endgames. Its true that there are other kinds of endgame manuals - books covering what Aagaard calls "Technical Chess", but that is not the emphasis of this book.And as John says, this book does leave out a lot that others may find important (he lists many in his review). Even fairly thin books, like Averbakh's "Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge", covers many endings not covered in Silman's book. OK, that's a valid point, but Silman is deliberately trying to limit the material to the kinds of endings likely to come up in over-the-board play.Despite these valid points, I nevertheless, think this book deserves 5 stars. I really consider it the best guide to the endgame for class players. First, Silman is just a great teacher. He has a way of bringing the student along that takes the drudgery out of learning, and everything really does seem quite straightforward. Now, of course the student will have to set some of these endings up on his computer and practice them - no one said practice was not required. But Silman's explanations convey the basic information as well as any I've seen. Secondly, the simple idea of breaking down the material by difficulty level rather than by material may seem trivial, but its an enormously powerful innovation in teaching endgames, and really sets this book apart. In every other area of life we learn the easier stuff before we learn what is harder. Averbakh's book, for example, covers simple concepts like the square of a pawn on one page and on the next is discussing queen verses rook endgames. Don't get me wrong, I think Averbakh's book is excellent, but I would never give it to a novice (or even a class C or B player) as a book for them to learn endings from. Overall, I think Silman's book is the best for class players to learn from. If they wish to go further in endgames, then Van Perlo's book (for students who are about class B or better) can help with more complex endings. By the time a student reaches class A, the book by Averbakh would certainly be a good addition if he wishes to pursue theoretical endings further.

Silman's endgame course is very well organized for the improving player. My peak elo was about 1800 USCF, but I have weak endgame skills for my rating, so I bought this book to establish better foundations. Silman presents endgame topics in an order that you're most likely to encounter them in actual play at your rating bracket (e.g., 1400-1599), which was extremely useful to me. Note that while the topics and example positions are well-chosen for each level, it's not possible for Silman to go through every possible variation or defensive trick that your opponent might use. My recommendation is to always practice the selected endgames against an engine.For example, in the position in the attached photo with bishop and two pawns vs bishop (p.115), I thought I understood it well enough after reading the text: don't lose the g-pawn or it becomes a bishop and wrong-colored rook pawn endgame, which is a draw. However, when I played against the engine, I successfully kept my g-pawn but was forced into position where I would either stalemate black or lose my bishop. (1. Ke5 Bg4 2. Bf5 Bh5 3. Kf6 Be2 4. Kg5 Kg8 5. Bg4 Bf1 6. Kg6 Kh8 7. Bf3 Bb5 8. g4 Be8+ 9. Kh6 Bf7 10. g5 Bd5 11. Bg4 Be6 12. Bh5 Bf7 13. Bg6 Bg8 14. h5 Bb3 15. Be8 Bf7 16. Bd7 Be6 17. Bxe6 1/2-1/2) Playing each position against the engine helps solidify my understanding, but also helps explore the corner cases that aren't covered by Silman in the text.Finally, one approach that is missing from this text is a discussion of "critical squares" or "key squares" (e.g., if you can get your king to this square, there's a way to guarantee a win). But from a teaching perspective, Silman's course is still the most accessible and well-scaffolded endgame book that I've seen to date. If I had to pick one single endgame book for the improving player like me, the superb organization by rating bracket and the clear explanations would make this my top choice.