Manual Of The Endgame In Chess

In writing the Manual of the Endgame, the author has dealt with the subject mainly from a practical point of view. It is intended for the beginner who, though having acquired a certain degree of playing strength in the opening and in the middlegame, is weak when it comes to the endgame, owing to insufficient study.

The opening and the endgame – though not the middlegame – are open to analytical treatment, and, therefore, in both of them, theoretical knowledge is indispensable. The player who lacks it in either will be severely handicapped in his practical play. Of what use is it to the amateur who, after avoiding all the pitfalls of the opening and after a well-played middlegame, has obtained a good or even winning position if he does not know how to take advantage of it in the face of his opponent’s superior handling of the endgame? He is caught again by subtleties and tricks which should be familiar to him. It is certainly annoying to be deprived at the end of a well-deserved victory, as so often happens, and for the beginner, the realization that he is helpless in the endgame is very depressing. He soon recognizes that he must study the theory of the endgame, it is true, but in trying to do so, he comes up against some unexpected difficulties.