The next book, Pandolfini's Endgame Course, by Bruce Pandolfini, has the usual introductory comments: "I quickly realized that endgame books were few and far between. This wasn't the only problem. Existing books were of two unsatisfactory types. Either they were too analytic or too vague and general." Fortunately, he can solve that problem by "combining the best features of both." Later we are relieved to learn that "no complicated 'textbook' positions have been included." But amazingly, he also says "some of these positions--such as those on the Queen and Rook mate--are discussed in no other endgame book, and, perhaps, in no other chess book." For Pandolfini, who has arguably never written anything original and deals almost exclusively in clichés, this is a remarkable claim. I rushed to the appropriate section and found the following two positions: White: K-e1; Q-d1; R-f4 Black: K-e5 (White to move), and White: K-e1; Q-a3; R-b4 Black:K-e5. (White to move). Now it's okay to give a rank beginner such a position, but to claim that it is an original contribution is...beyond words.

This, as you might have guessed, is the most elementary of all the endgame books I've reviewed, appropriate for "able beginners," in his words, and I don't know who else--I would guess school kids with ratings up to 1000 or 1200, but I don't know. That audience is an important one, and I think that this book could be very useful for teachers of introductory and second-year school courses. There are 239 positions, with one position per page. By the end of the book, Pandolfini has a few more difficult examples of basic rook endings and some simple minor piece endings; but since the bulk of the material is at an extremely elementary level, I wouldn't recommend it beyond that rating range. At any rate, it's hard to see how Pandolfini has mediated between the two types of books he mentioned above, since they surely deal with more advanced material. On the good side, there are plenty of words in the descriptions of each position. Perhaps notes for each move might have been a good approach at this level, but I'll defer to his teaching experience. Also useful for teachers is the 14-page Glossary at the end. Finally, I should mention that the price is excellent for so many pages.

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