After reviewing many elementary endgame books, Endgame Challenge, by John Hall, returns us to the world of somewhat more complicated endings, some of which will challenge at least mid-level students. Still, the book starts out at what I would call a "below-intermediate" level. That is, only 3 truly elementary mates are given, and a couple of easy king-and-pawn endings are included, but already there are many more difficult mates (bishop and knight, two knights with an enemy pawn, bishop versus rook, etc.) and more complicated pawn endings. Before I forget, this quote from the Introduction: "...most of us feel that learning endings is a dry and boring process. Not so with Endgame Challenge!. This book offers a fun and dynamic approach...Rather than pore endlessly over rules and techniques in some dusty 500-page manual, you can now take an active part in your endgame education!" Notice how these "manuals" and "tomes" are always "dusty." Don't a lot of the books you bought two years ago have a nice layer of particles as well?

In fact, I really like the approach this book takes. Its 451 examples, all with "Hints" next to them and then solutions on another page, reminds me of the best of those "1001 Tactical Exercises" books that we grew up with and are still strongly recommended by top players. The positions are marked according to difficulty, so you can jump to the ones appropriate to your level. I feel that thinking about and then taking your best shot at these problems is a great way to learn endings. The fact that feedback is required takes the passivity out of study. Among the elementary books discussed here, this has to be one of the best. I recommend it highly.