Several months ago Gambit Publications (www.gambitbooks.com) published NUNN S CHESS ENDINGS: VOLUME 1 covering pawn, bishop, knight, B vs. N and queen endings. Now the second and final volume in the series is available. NUNN S CHESS ENDINGS: VOLUME 2 is primarily devoted to teaching how to play rook and pawn endings correctly. If that seems a modest goal one need only examine the game Kamsky-Kramnik, Melody Amber 2009, where two great players were humbled in a rook and pawn versus rook ending. Granted, they were playing blindfold, but nonetheless this is a fine example of just how tricky even the simplest of rook endings can be.
Dr. Nunn, in close to 300 pages, provides in this volume a full course on how to play the most commonly occurring endings, those with rooks. There is no theme or idea he leaves uncovered and the reader is left with the firm impression that if they apply themselves they will be able to learn a great deal. They would not be mistaken.
The reasons for this are three-fold. The first is that with Table Base extending to six pieces the evaluation of many fundamental rook endings is now simply known. This has only recently been the case as GM Nunn shows repeatedly as strong GMs make mistake after mistake in these type of endings - even those with the benefit of time on their clock, adjournment analysis or the luxury of analyzing the ending after the game was finished.
Having Table Base as a tool is invaluable but translating the information it provides into something humans can understand is a special skill as is the ability to convey that knowledge in clear expository prose. Dr. Nunn possesses all these skills in abundance and put them to good use in what may be his best book to date.
Nunn Chess Endings: Volume 2 covers:
8.2 Rook vs Pawns 14 8.2.1 Hesitation Checks 14 8.2.2 Rook vs Two Pawns 16 8.2.3 Rook vs Three Pawns 18 8.3 Rook and Pawns vs Pawns 22 8.3.1 King Activity 26 8.3.2 Rook Sacrifice 28 8.3.3 Stalemate 29 8.4 Rook and Pawns vs Rook and Pawns 30 8.4.1 Fifth-Rank Cut-Off 30 8.4.2 The Rook Switch 38 8.4.3 Common Error: Rook Behind Passed Pawn 43 8.4.4 Lasker Maneuver 45 8.4.5 Common Error: Checking Distance 49 8.4.6 Reciprocal Zugzwang 56 8.4.7 Liquidation to a Pawn Ending 67 8.4.8 Common Error: Promoting Too Soon 73 8.4.9 Stalemate 77 8.5 Rook and Pawn vs Rook 91 8.5.1 Centre Pawn 91 8.5.2 Bishop s Pawn 94 8.5.3 Knight s Pawn 97 8.5.4 Rook s Pawn 99 8.6 Rook and Two Pawns vs Rook 108 8.6.1 Introduction 108 8.6.2 Connected Pawns 109 8.6.2a Blockade 109 8.6.2b One Pawn is Too Far Advanced 120 8.6.2c Stalemate 121 8.6.3 Disconnected Pawns 122 8.6.3a a-Pawn + h-Pawn 122 8.6.3b f-Pawn + h-Pawn 128 8.6.3c Other Disconnected Pawns 134 8.6.4 Doubled Pawns 148 8.7 Rook and Pawn vs Rook and Pawn 152 8.7.1 The Defender s Pawn Gets in the Way 152 8.7.2 Pawns on the Same File 155 8.7.3 Pawns on Adjacent Files, Not Passed 161 8.7.4 Pawns on Adjacent Files, Passed 167 8.7.5 Pawns at Least Two Files Apart 171 8.7.6 Transformation to a Queen Ending 178 8.8 Rook and Two Pawns vs Rook and Pawn 183 8.8.1 No Passed Pawns 183 8.8.2 One Passed Pawn 188 8.8.2a The Attacker s Pawns are Connected 188 8.8.2b The Attacker s Pawns are Not Connected 191 8.8.3 All the Pawns are Passed 199 8.8.3a The Attacker s Pawns are Connected 200 8.8.3b The Attacker s Pawns are Not Connected 213 8.8.4 The Single Pawn has the Advantage 218 8.9 The Outside Passed Pawn 219 8.9.1 The Attacker s Rook is Behind the Pawn 219 8.9.2 The Attacker s Rook is to the Side of the Pawn 230 8.9.3 The Attacker s Rook is in Front of the Pawn 235 8.9.4 Other Cases 242 8.10 Both Sides have Connected Passed Pawns 251 8.11 Miscellaneous Tactical Ideas 264 8.11.1 Triangulation 264 8.11.2 Breakthrough 266 8.11.3 Perpetual Check 268 8.11.4 Mate 269 8.11.5 Positional Draw 271 8.12 Other Ideas in Rook Endings 273 8.13 Four-Rook Endings 286 9 Endings with Rooks and Minor Pieces 289 9.1 Introduction 289 9.2 Advantage of the Exchange 289 9.2.1 Rook and Pawn vs Knight and Pawn 290 9.2.2 More Pawns 294 9.2.3 The Knight has the Advantage 300 9.2.4 Rook and Pawn vs Bishop and Pawn 303 9.2.4a Pawns on the Same File 304 9.2.4b Pawns on Adjacent Files 308 9.2.4c Both Pawns Passed 313 9.2.5 More Pawns 322 9.2.6 The Bishop has the Advantage 328 9.3 Advantage of a Piece 330 9.4 Stalemate 334 9.5 Attacking the King and Mating Ideas 337 9.6 Hesitation Checks 344 9.7 Pawn Promotion 347
NUNN'S CHESS ENDINGS: VOLUME 2 is a truly first rate book that is sure to improve the endgame play of players from 2000 on up who are willing to give it serious study.
