A Mini-Review of Dvoretsky's _Endgame Manual, 3rd Edition_

Mark Dvoretsky, Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual, 3rd Edition (Russell Enterprises 2011). 405 pp. $34.95.

I can make this review really quick: if you don't have an earlier edition, buy this one; if you do, then don't.

There's no fundamentally new material here, just some tidying up of the earlier analysis here and there (but where in particular, neither the author nor the publisher gives us any advance clue*) and a slightly improved color scheme for the print. Otherwise, there's no difference between this edition and its predecessor. You might at first be fooled into thinking there are three more pages in the new edition, but that's because the page counted started two pages earlier, with the title page and its overleaf, plus the purely pro forma publisher's preface to this edition.

So while there may not be much reason to get the "mini-upgrade", it's very much worth buying if you don't have an earlier version. This large and widely, rightly praised volume serves a dual function: it provides all the standard theory you'd expect in an endgame textbook, but has a strong practical component as well. Dvoretsky emphasizes typical techniques and mistakes, highlights and focuses in on what's foundational and builds from there, provides numerous exercises, and presents content not only by material but thematic elements as well. The reader isn't just given theory but loads of practical content as well.

If you're around 1800-1900 and up, definitely get the book if you don't already have it. (Even an industrious 1600 could benefit considerably from the book.) There are other good endgame books (and videos) out there, but this is about as close to a must-have book as there is in chess, certainly for endgame play.

* Maybe this silence has been done in the hopes of getting owners of the old editions to buy this one. After all, if they know where the changes are, they can just scan those pages (either figuratively or literally) and not bother buying the new book. Fine, but what about the people who actually buy it - do they really have to sit there with the two books side by side, poring over 400 pages in each, to see what the changes are and if they're significant? Not nice.

Dvoretsky's Tragicomedy in the Endgame: A Brief Review

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.

Dvoretsky Interview, Part 3

The third and final installment of ChessVibes' interview with the famous trainer and author, Mark Dvoretsky, is here.

Dvoretsky Interview, Part 2

Here. Topics include trainers and computers, endgame play, and chess self-improvement.

An Interview with Mark Dvoretsky, Part 1

The famous trainer and author answers questions over at ChessVibes. Part 1 is here.