English GM John Nunn is the rare chess author who continually produces outstanding books on all parts of the game. Such is his sustained level of excellence that one can safely buy a book of his sight unseen in confidence that it will be interesting and instructive. His latest, UNDERSTANDING CHESS ENDGAMES, is no exception. Still, with Gambit having produced another dozen books on the ending, many of them by the same author, it does beg the question of why to get this particular one.
The answer is that it is an excellent comprehensive one-volume introduction to the endgame that is aimed at a wide audience. Just how comprehensive it is can be seen by an examination of the table of contents which is several pages long.
King and Pawn Endings 9
1 King and Pawn vs King (1) 10
2 King and Pawn vs King (2) 12
3 The Rook’s Pawn 14
4 King and Two Pawns vs King 16
5 Shouldering Away 18
6 King Geometry 20
7 Extra Pawn 22
8 Outside Passed Pawn 24
9 Protected Passed Pawn 26
10 Active King 28
11 Breakthrough 30
12 Opposition 32
13 Distant Opposition 34
14 Triangulation 36
15 Reserve Tempi 38
16 Transformation to a Queen Ending (1) 40
17 Transformation to a Queen Ending (2) 42
18 Surprise Moves 44
Knight Endings 46
19 Knight vs Pawn 48
20 Knight vs More Pawns 50
21 Extra Piece 52
22 Extra Pawn 54
23 Positional Factors 56
24 Tactical Ideas 58
Same-Coloured Bishop Endings 60
25 Bishop vs Pawns 62
26 Rook’s Pawn and Wrong Bishop 64
27 Bishop and Pawn vs Bishop (1) 66
28 Bishop and Pawn vs Bishop (2) 68
29 Extra Pawn 70
30 Bad Bishop 72
Opposite-Coloured Bishop Endings 74
31 Bishop and Two Pawns vs Bishop 76
32 Blockade 78
33 Passed Pawns 80
Bishop vs Knight Endings 82
34 Bishop and Pawn vs Knight 84
35 Knight and Pawn vs Bishop 86
36 The Dominant Bishop 88
37 Bishop or Knight? 90
38 Two Bishops vs Bishop and Knight 92
39 Two Bishops vs Two Knights 94
Rook Endings 96
40 Rook vs Pawn (1) 98
41 Rook vs Pawn (2) 100
42 Rook vs Two Connected Passed Pawns 102
43 Rook vs Two Isolated Passed Pawns 104
44 R+P vs R – The Standard Draw 106
45 Lucena Position 108
46 R+P vs R – Enemy King Cut Off (1) 110
47 R+P vs R – Enemy King Cut Off (2) 112
48 R+P vs R – Checking from the Side 114
49 R+P vs R – Moving to the Short Side 116
50 Rook and Rook’s Pawn vs Rook 118
51 Van†ura Draw 120
52 Rook and Two Pawns vs Rook (1) 122
53 Rook and Two Pawns vs Rook (2) 124
54 R+fP+hP vs R 126
55 Extra Pawn on One Side 128
56 Extra Passed Pawn – Rook in Front of the Pawn 130
57 Extra Passed Pawn – Rook Behind the Pawn 132
58 Connected Passed Pawns 134
59 Pawn Weaknesses 136
60 Active King 138
61 Rook on the Seventh 140
62 Tactical Tricks (1) 142
63 Tactical Tricks (2) 144
64 Manoeuvring in Rook Endings 146
65 Defence in Rook Endings 148
66 Double Rook Endings 150
Rook vs Minor Piece Endings 152
67 Rook vs Bishop 154
68 Rook vs Knight 156
69 Rook + Pawn vs Bishop 158
4 UNDERSTANDING CHESS ENDGAMES
70 Rook + Pawn vs Knight 160
71 Rook + Pawn vs Bishop + Pawn 162
72 Rook + Pawn vs Knight + Pawn 164
73 Rook vs Bishop: Pawns on One Wing 166
74 Rook vs Bishop: Pawns on Both Wings 168
75 Rook vs Knight: More Pawns 170
Queen Endings 172
76 Queen vs Pawn (1) 174
77 Queen vs Pawn (2) 176
78 Queen and Pawn vs Queen (1) 178
79 Queen and Pawn vs Queen (2) 180
80 King Safety 182
81 Passed Pawns 184
82 Active King 186
83 Escaping the Checks 188
84 Extra Pawn on One Side 190
Other Material Combinations 192
85 Mating with Bishop and Knight 194
86 Queen vs Rook (1) 196
87 Queen vs Rook (2) 198
88 Rook and Minor Piece vs Rook 200
89 Rook vs Two Minor Pieces 202
90 Queen vs Rook and Minor Piece 204
91 Queen vs Two Rooks 206
92 Rook and Minor Piece Endings (1) 208
93 Rook and Minor Piece Endings (2) 210
94 Queen and Minor Piece Endings 212
95 Heavy-Piece Endings 214
Tactical Ideas 216
96 Mate 218
97 Stalemate 220
98 Pawn Promotion 222
99 Underpromotion 224
100 Imagination 226
While Nunn deals with many topics, UNDERSTANDING CHESS ENDGAMES is not overwhelming. There is a lot of prose explanation. Introductions and summaries reinforce the lessons learned. Players as low as 1600 should be able to make their way though the first part of the book but later on there is material that will be challenging for players up to 2200 and a good refresher course even up to 2400.
