Theory and Practice of Chess Endgames
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Theory and Practice of Chess Endgames
Written on 11/06/02
This endgame CD was released at around the same time as Convekta's
other endgame offering (Chess Endgame Training - or CET). I struggled
for a while to place this CD into a separate category from CET, but in
the end, I am convinced that there is a fair amount that both CDs have
in common. That is not to say that there are duplicate exercises
between the two (I have not run into any yet). But rather, there are
similarities in the types of knowledge and techniques that are being
taught.
This CD represents a little better choice for those that want or need
plain English explanations, since there are a number of positions with
a significant amount of text (approximately 700). It also appears as
though an English speaker has edited these. All in all, I think that
these examples will be very useful to people that are trying to
understand this phase of the game.
In addition to the teaching positions mentioned above, there are a
number of exercises (about 600), and 150 or so positions that you can
play out against the computer. Of course, there is a built-in engine
(crafty) for this purpose. With a little ingenuity, most users could
set up tablebase access for crafty, if so desired. See my article on
crafty setup in Chess Assistant 5 for more information.
The CD discusses almost all the topics that are typically considered
in "classical" texts. For example, the opposition, rook
activity, opposite colored bishops, etc. However, the CD is not
absolutely complete, since there were a few topics that were not
covered (like B vs. Ps, or K+B+RP vs. K). So this course is not quite
complete, although it comes fairly close. If anything, it is missing
some of the really basic information (like the above), but has
excellent coverage of topics the intermediate or advanced player is
interested in. To be fair, this is the recommended audience for the
CD. But I think the addition of a few more topics could broaden its
appeal even more.
Like CET, I would give this CD fairly high marks for organization.
Generally speaking, the material is put together in a logical fashion,
but there are instances where the order of presentation is a bit
strange. For instance, there is a discussion of the opposition, then a
discussion of corresponding squares, followed by the rule of the
square. I don't know for sure whether the rule of the square, or
opposition should come first (maybe the former), but I do know that
corresponding squares should come near the very end, since many strong
players have trouble with this topic. So if you have trouble
understanding material, you might want to skip some of the more
esoteric sections, and do what you understand first.
I would definitely recommend this CD to the intermediate or advanced
player, for whom it is intended. All in all, I think that it
represents an enormous effort, and will definitely been a boon to
those that are interested in this phase of the game.
Note that I have more reviews of Convekta software at my new site: www.chessassistance.com.
Copy Protection
Must insert original CD for occasional refueling.
Languages Supported
English and Spanish
