VAN PERLO'S ENDGAME TACTICS
Author: Van Perlo
New In Chess
479 pages
$28.95

Reviewed by Jeremy Silman

In my review of ENDGAME VIRTUOSO ANATOLY KARPOV, I pointed out that endgame books came in five categories:

1) Encyclopedic (BASIC CHESS ENDINGS, FUNDAMENTAL CHESS ENDINGS, and even DVORETSKY'S ENDGAME MANUAL were part of this group).

2) Entertaining (VAN PERLO'S ENDGAME TACTICS)

3) Scientific (FINAL COUNTDOWN)

4) Instructive (ENDGAME STRATEGY, SILMAN'S COMPLETE ENDGAME COURSE, the STARTING OUT series, etc.)

5) Hero Worship (VASILY SMYSLOV: ENDGAME VIRTUOSO, CAPABLANCA'S BEST CHESS ENDINGS, and ENDGAME VIRTUOSO ANATOLY KAPPOV)

Clearly, VAN PERLO'S ENDGAME TACTICS falls under the second category. The positions that appear are fun, at times even shocking (it's magic!), and are often accompanied by humorous prose that can easily put a smile on your face.

It's important to mention that VAN PERLO'S ENDGAME TACTICS won the biggest award in the world for chess books: The ECF Book of the Year Award (it used to be called the British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award/BCF, but apparently they just changed it). In 2006 Van Perlo beat out both Kasparov (MY GREAT PREDECESSORS V) and Rowson (CHESS FOR ZEBRAS). That's stiff competition, and is all the more surprising since endgame books usually don't get the nod. Clearly, VAN PERLO'S ENDGAME TACTICS is something special!

Aside from its entertainment value, VAN PERLO'S ENDGAME TACTICS also gives you an interesting kind of instructive bang for your buck. Though you might know of all the basic tactical themes from your middlegame studies, the endgame offers up some odd tactical ideas that only apply in this final phase of the game (pawn promotions, strange King jigs, etc.). Thus, going over the examples from this book will prove to be quite instructive, while also being lots of fun.

Highly recommended for players from 1200 to grandmaster.

Click if you would like to buy (or get more information about):

VAN PERLO'S ENDGAME TACTICS

ENDGAME VIRTUOSO ANATOLY KARPOV

BASIC CHESS ENDINGS By Reuben Fine, 586 pages, $24.95

FUNDAMENTAL CHESS ENDINGS By Muller & Lamprecht, 416 pages, $29.95

DVORETSKY'S ENDGAME MANUAL (2nd EDITION) By Mark Dvoretsky, 402 pages, $27.95

VAN PERLO'S ENDGAME TACTICS By Van Perlo, 480 pages, $28.95

PRACTICAL ROOK ENDINGS By Viktor Korchnoi, 98 pages, $18.95

THE SURVIVAL GUIDE TO ROOK ENDINGS By John Emms, 160 pages, $18.95

ENDGAME STRATEGY By Shereshevsky, 218 pages, $18.95

SILMAN'S COMPLETE ENDGAME COURSE: FROM BEGINNER TO MASTER By Jeremy Silman, 532 pages, $22.95

STARTING OUT: PAWN ENDGAMES By Glenn Flear, 144 pages, $17.95

STARTING OUT: ROOK ENDGAMES By Chris Ward, 160 pages, $18.95

STARTING OUT: MINOR PIECE ENDGAMES By John Emms, 208 pages, $17.95

VASILY SMYSLOV: ENDGAME VIRTUOSO By Smyslov, 176 pages, $19.95

CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING Bernd Rosen, $19.95

CHESS ENDINGS MADE SIMPLE Ian Snape, $19.95

SECRETS OF CHESS ENDGAME STRATEGY Lars Bo Hansen, $25.95

101 CHESS ENDGAME TIPS Steve Giddins, $18.95