Mark Dvoretsky, Tragicomedy in the Endgame: Instructive Mistakes of the Masters (Russell Enterprises 2011). 264 pp. $29.95. Reviewed by Dennis Monokroussos.
Those who have Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual (DEM) will probably recall that many sections conclude with a "tragicomedy" or two, examples where the players - often very strong ones - have gone terribly awry, usually in cases where they should have known better. Mark Dvoretsky has now expanded the tragicomedy concept into an entire book, still dedicated to endgames, calling this new book an "introduction" or "supplement" to DEM.
While it may serve that function, the arrangement is different. DEM, like most endgame texts, divided the chapters by material: first pawn endings, then minor pieces, then rooks, etc. While the chess-related subject matter Tragicomedy is the ending (especially rook endings), its thematic focus is on errors, and therefore chapters are divided by the kinds of errors committed. The chapters, followed by a brief description of their contents, are as follows:
1. "Swimming" in Theory: These are errors brought about by a deficient grasp of fundamental endings and/or motifs.
2. The King in the Endgame: A grab bag of concepts are covered, from activating one's king and preventing the opponent from doing likewise, to motifs like "shouldering" and cutting off the enemy king.
3. The Strength of the Pawns: The focus is on passed pawns: using them, stopping them, creating them and so on.
4. Zugzwang: Self-explanatory.
5. In Search of Salvation: Players (both on the strong side and the weak side) often overlook last ditch saves involving fortresses, stalemate, and different sorts of perpetual attack.
6. Tactics: A relatively short, grab-bag chapter helpfully reminding us that the relative quiet of the endgame doesn't mean that middlegame-style tactics can't arise.
7. Piece Play: The focus here is on maneuvers and exchanges, concepts more commonly associated with technique than with fundamental endgames. Which brings us to...
8. Technique: Here the topics include prophylaxis, gaining/losing a tempo, move order and - turning to a more psychological theme - carelessness. Again, this offers a segue to...
9. Premature End to the Struggle. Here we have examples where players resigned in a drawn position or agreed to a draw in a won position. (Ouch.)
There's also a conclusion, offering some final tragicomedies from the ranks of world champions and near-champions (though there are plenty of other champions' gaffes earlier in the book as well).
It isn't casual reading, but it's a good book that can help us reduce the number of fundamental errors we make in the endgame - if we put some in time and elbow grease. Here's one way of defining progress: if you first look at the book and think he's too hard on the players whose games he's examining, and then finish it and wonder how such greats could play so poorly, the book will have been a success.
One critical remark: the book's editing isn't always as good as it should be - maybe it's not tragicomic, but it should be better, especially for a marquee author like Dvoretsky. Nevertheless, it's a book worth having and using if you're near 2000 (and up), and somewhat lower-rated players with a sturdy work ethic can benefit from it as well.