100 Endgames You Must Know: Vital Lessons for Every Chess Player

Product Information

De la Villa does the job quite well. He emphasizes the practical and prefers understanding to memorization." If you really have no patience for endgames, at least read Jesus de la Villa's '100 Endgames You Must Know'." Jesus de la Vila debunks the myth that endgame theory is complex and he teaches you to steer the game into a position you are familiar with.

ChessGeek - 100 Endgames You Must Know

Most of the patterns Jesus de la Villa presents in this new book are from the phase of the game just before a theoretical endgame turns up. Knowing these practical endgame fundamentals will enable you to fully reap the benefits of what you learned in De la Villa’s widely acclaimed classic 100 Endgames You Must Know. My favorite endgame book, very clear and concise. If you only read one endgame book it should be this one." - GM Niclas Huschenbeth

Jesus de la Villa's book comes highly-recommended by a coach (a Russian IM) whom I approached about this question. It is refreshingly focused on making your study time as productive (in terms of decisive game results) as possible. comparing '100 Endgames' with John Nunn's 'Understanding Endgames') "Though Nunn's comments are clear and to the point, I found De la Villa's discussions easier to digest."

100 Endgames You Must Know - Chess Stack Exchange 100 Endgames You Must Know - Chess Stack Exchange

The fact that players think in patterns has an important side-effect: their endgame errors tend to repeat themselves. That’s why De la Villa has not just included examples from games of elite GM’s but also of amateurs. Errors are always instructive and working with this book will seriously reduce the number of typical mistakes you are prone to make. The many practical exercises that De la Villa has selected will help you improve and retain what you have learned. Most club players consider studying the endgame to be boring and have a clear weakness in their endgame play relative to their openings and middlegames. This increases the importance of endgame study because it is easier to increase the discrepancy between you and your peers by studying the endgame than by studying any other area of the game. Jesus de la Villa (1958) is an International Grandmaster born in Spain. He is a successful author and a well-known chess coach. He has won the Spanish Championship twice.The bad news is that, all the same, the endgame technique of most players is deficient. Modern time-controls make matters worse: there is simply not enough time to delve deep into the position.