Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual: Fourth Edition

The late Mark Dvoretsky had the justified reputation of being the world's best chess trainer, and this book shows why. He writes vividly, and here, his lessons are reinforced with "tragi-comedies", situations where even well-known players made mistakes that caused them to miss wins or lose. This book has gone through 4 editions, each edition containing fixes of errors (detected through computer analysis) in previous editions.I'd recommend buying this book along with Muller and Lamprecht's Fundamental Chess Endings, which starts with material targeted to weaker players, but is largely complementary . Dvoretsky does not claim to cover all endings, only the common ones. However certain uncommon endings have occurred in grandmaster play: GM Ilia Smirin failed to win a K+B+N vs K ending, which Muller and Lamprecht cover.For mastery in certain endgames, e.g., K+R+P vs K+ B, or K+Q vs K+R (+P), it's advisable, as Dvoretsky recommends, to use a chess program that can utilize an endgame tablebase (there are several free tablebases available) to play a perfect endgame. Neither book can cover all the subtleties in these endings, and there are many: GM Peter Svidler drew a K+Q vs K+R endgame with Boris Gelfand that he should have won, after exceeding the 50-move limit.I'd recommend the (cheaper and more legible) Kindle edition rather than the paper copy, which, as some other reviewers note, has problems. The Kindle edition also uses the Blue-font-color-for-essential, Black-for-optional approach, but in an electronic medium, the contrast is clear.

A very comprehensive manual to the endgame, but only for those who already have a strong grasp of intermediate endings and endgame technique. It doesn't go much into basics so this probably should not be your first or even second endgame book. Dvoretsky separates the endgames into blue text and black text, the blue text being the essential and more fundamental positions. For U1900 players, the Blue text is plenty sufficient for your endgame needs and is still useful to much stronger experts. If you've exhausted your encyclopedia of endgames and need to sharpen your knowledge this is a reputable and trusted source to meet your goals of mastery in the endgame.

With a lot of different endgame concepts that I never even knew existed. I just got through part of the first chapter dealing with king and pawn endgames, and this I got to say is the ultimate training practice manual for endgames. A NM I know said it is the best endgame in the world, and I believe he is correct. I will try and post another review after I finish reading it, but for now I just got to say I was blown away with the amount of ideas there where on king and pawn endgames. I learned about basic endgame ideas in the past, but this manual allows you to practice those ideas at an expert level, and also, gives 50 more ideas! Good book!

First, the content is great. Each type of ending is thoroughly explained before the example, and there are many examples. I bought the 4th edition because it was $20 less than the 5th edition and no compelling reason to pay the extra $20. The kindle edition has blue text and even blue diagrams. The author states the blue text is the quick study version and if you want to master the endings read both the black and blue text. One other issue, the 5th edition was revised after the author's death. If you want the classic version, the 4th is the one you want.

I have been a Master (over 2200) for 30 years, and a collector of chess books for more years than that (I have about 1800 chess books). All of Dvoretsky's books are tough reads as they are intended for a more advanced audience, but they are absolutely awesome.Simply put, in terms of instruction and value to your game, this is THE greatest chess book ever written. Study this book thoroughly, and you will have more endgame knowledge than most ordinary masters, and many IMs too. This book will serve you better than any opening manual ever will, and for a lifetime of chess.

Well what more to say. Everybody hypes this book and for good reason. You can't play chess unless you know the rules that are in this book. Very detailed and would purchase again. I watched a video of a very respectable GM who downplayed this book saying its a bit to technical for his students. I disagree. Chess is complicated throughout your whole life. This book gives you what you need for endgame theory. I'm sure you've heard that before about this book.

This is probably the best endgame book for 1600+ rated players in existence. My copy does not have the notorious faded blue print some of the other reviewers complain about. You have to understand that many chess players have OCD or are sociopathic nut cases who will freak out at the very slightest imperfection so it is possible a few of these books made it out with a bad print job. My copy was perfect.

5 stars because I'm sure this is a great endgame book. It has very complex endgames and they make an effort to cater towards sub 2000 players with the blue text that highlights the main ideas but the majority of this book is meant for players 2k + players. I purchased silman's endgame book after this and put a lot more time into studying that book. I plan on studying this a lot more after finishing silman's book.