I wrote the following for Twitter.
The process of writing a lot and being a publisher means that you can have times where you almost forget you have a book coming out. Today we will send CONCEPTUAL ROOK ENDGAMES to the printer finally. After John had to be a jury at a serious trial, both rook endgame books were pushed to October. But on the 27th September we will publish ENDGAME LABYRINTHS! @SteffenNielsen8 is my co-author and the current World Champion in study composition. What we have done is a slightly different thing from previous books on the topic. The idea from the book came from a solving group of four people I ran some years back. We were two guys and two girls, trying to solve studies from perhaps the most famous modern book on studies. I finally had it with these way too long solutions, when there was a 30+ move pawn ending. I know that top players find their most significant details on the first three moves in calculation in the middlegame (direction of travel, let’s call it). Sometimes we go deeper in the endgame, and of course we see further ahead. But 30 moves? Not me. I asked Steffen for studies and they were far more solvable, and I actually liked them better than these supposed “best studies of all time”. The idea of creating a book with this sort of material came quickly (of course). I had not imagined just how much work it would be. Although we are two authors of this 424 page book, it took me far more effort than the “less than 900” page A MATTER OF ENDGAME TECHNIQUE that I published in 2022. I think I spent 1000+ hours on this book. It does not try to be a “best studies of all times” book – rather it is a book for strong players wanting to improve their game through solving endgame studies. They are selected for solving. They are cut for solving. They have a point system, designed to keep you honest in your solving. The book will also be available on @ChessTempo and @ForwardChess from the 20th September. Both of these great companies helped us with the checking of the final manuscript and reduced the number of errors significantly. @QualityChess have yet to publish a book without mistakes. This is our best try. We hope you will like it.
I cannot wait to get it in my hands! Not a strong player but love endgames. Thank you for publishing one great book after another.
The purpose of the book (improving endgame skills through practical studies needing to find uncommon moves/ideas) sounds great. Still hard to avoid second-guessing, such as in the p18 study where one can’t help wondering what the h5 pawn is here for. It helps solving the study, but no use for improving one’s endgames, wished I could lose the habit. Great book coming imho.
Just one question: why is the side to play not mentioned? (e.g. “Win” instead of “White to play and win”). Is it always White to play?
Will “Conceptual Rook Endgames” and “Theoretical Rook Endgames” be avalaible on ChessTempo??
@Cowe
Vast majority of studies are to win but it’s usually stipulated as either win or draw but it’s convention that a win study is white to win. Presume it’s the same in the book…I’m sure they’ll explain it in the intro ?
@Cowe
Studies enthusiasts are highly pedantic so I’ll start the ball rolling ? …the Mitrofanov study mentioned really is a shortened version as the original prize winning setting was unsound and there is another book related to just one study…No Rook Unturned on the Saveedra position …. a position part created in Glasgow!
my 2p: don’t let the ball rolling too much against South Africa and Ireland!
I am only rated about 2000 and am too old and busy to have ambitions to improve much, but I love all these hard puzzle books, especially Jacob’s. Even if I ony get 20% correct (or partially correct), it gives me an insight into how much deeper the game is than the way I play it. I much prefer these in book form (hardback of course), because it forces me to take time, rather than just clicking on a move that looks interesting. The biggest problem I have is finding space on my bookshelf for all the great new books. For games collections and openings I prefer Forward Chess, as it is easy to skim through games quickly if I don’t feel the need to look deeply.
@Cowe
Yes, in studies it is almost always White to play. One study in the book gives Black to play, and then it is clearly marked. Also clearly spelled out on the symbols page. I could have put them in, maybe that would have been cleaner. I was second guessing myself constantly on this topic!
@Paleking
Yes. A week before the paper versions, if all goes well.
@Steve
Thank you. Flattered. Lots coming!
Hey QC team
Some of your releases are a bit of a mystery when published ( eg no-one mentioned A Matter of Endgame Technique wasn’t to include rook endgames as they were to be published separately until I got my hands on it) so could I get a bit of info on the two ‘ missing’ rook endgame titles. Sure the conceptual volume is an instabuy but not sure about the theoretical volume. What do I get extra Vs Dvoretsky as the latest DEM volume seems pretty up to date on theoretical discoveries? More examples or greater explanation in the text or are you pushing the boat out of what is considered a theoretical endgame past what Dvoretsky did ( for instance there’s nothing on rook and minor piece for both sides)? Indeed does the new book deal with all rook endgames eg double rook, rook v minor piece etc? I’d prefer minimal overlap as I already have DEM but maybe it’s designed as an alternative and superfluous for me.
Thanks
I also unsure to get both theoretical and conceptional, but will be guided more by price for both. I am more inclined to get theoretical as I am thinking that conceptual is maybe further examples presented in the theoretical book, but please QC team correct me if wrong!
Ed & JB – we will soon release excerpts which will cover some of those questions, but I’ll also give some info now. Firstly Ed, the general advice is to ready and study the theoretical volume first, as this will be a great foundation for the conceptual volume which tends to cover rook endgames with more pawns on the board.
JB – Sam is full of praise for Dvoretsky and other prominent endgame authors, yet he still believed he could write a better book. (Sam only covers positions with one rook per side by the way.) Some of the key features of this book (borrowed from Sam’s introduction) are:
* Covers the basic technical endgames in a better organized, more concise and easier-to-understand way than other books.
* Provides key rules and guidelines throughout the book.
* Gives advice on which endgames should be memorized exactly and which ones are best handled by knowing structures, rule and guidelines.
* Gives practical advice, for instance how to give yourself the best winning chances in certain theoretically drawn positions, and how to pose maximal resistance in theoretically lost endgames. (To give one example, he covers some pawnless endgames such as rook versus queen, and advises on how best to try and defend with the rook.)
* The book also contains a 40-page ‘Cliff Notes’ type of section at the end, recapping the most vital endgames covered in the books, with a diagram and a few moves with comments, recapping the main winning/drawing plan in that position.
@Andrew Greet
Thanks Andrew
That’s just the info I wanted….
Will read the excerpt and then make my mind up. Thanks for the clarification ?
@Andrew Greet
Hmmm, pity Nepo didn’t have Sam’s book to get some queen Vs rook tips or did Magnus get an advance copy??
Hello. QC’s website mentions “A Matter of Endgame Technique” as being available on Forward Chess, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. Can you please clarify?
Yes, AMOET is available on Forward Chess:
https://forwardchess.com/product/a-matter-of-endgame-technique
Or if you go to the Quality Chess page:
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/products/2/403/a_matter_of_endgame_technique_by_jacob_aagaard/
and click on the banner near the bottom of the page that says “Available on Forwardchess.com” it takes you directly to the correct Forward Chess page.
If for some reason you cannot access it, then I suggest emailing the FC people, who will be happy to help.
@John Shaw
Ty John
Yes, there were few rook endings in A Matter of Endgame Technique. But there was no endgame theory at all, and it was general principles that applies to all endgames, also rook endgames. It is only so that rook endgames are vastly more complicated and deserved a deeper treatment. Those complaining that this 896 page book was not long enough have made me laugh more than once :-).
What I have seen from Sam’s book is much deeper analysis and far better explanations than in any rook endgame theory book before. It will be my personal reference guide going forward. And I did write the foreword where I called DEM for the best chess book ever…
My own book is based on these 25+ concepts of rook endgames that can help us make decisions outside the theoretical positions. There is limited overlap between the book – 2-3 games to be exact, and we emphasized on different parts of them. Thematically, they are entirely different.
Still enjoying that new book smell. 🙂 Some things:
When breaking the book in, I noticed the chapter where you can compare your score to multiple GMs/IMs/etc. Readers enjoy the heck out of such things – if that became a permanent thing in all training books going forward, we would have an absolute blast. Probably can’t do it for every chapter, but that would be extremely, extremely cool if you did.
The stars for the puzzles. I don’t actually see an explanation for them in the book – am I missing it somewhere? If so, is it the usual easy/medium/difficult/very hard/near impossible as my mind would naturally leap to? We are getting 5 pts for each puzzle, so the stars don’t correlate to that.
I see the puzzles are 6 diagrams per page. Is this just for ease of layout, or are they intended to be solved as a “set” like in the GM Prep series? Or just merely giving the reader the option to, if they wish.
Looks good. Eager to dive in when time allows.
@Seth
The problem is to get them on board. Here we cashed in a lot of favours…
The stars are rather self-explanatory.
The points is per exercise. This is how Steffen wanted it.
Six per page is a layout issue. 1002 is divisible with 6, but too many solutions were too long 😉
@Jacob Aagaard
Jacob, appreciate the feedback from you and Andrew before then. Think I have been too overcautious about whether I need the Theoretical book and it’s an instabuy for them both now ?
Although I was annoyed there wasn’t much rook endgame analysis in AMOET I was presuming that this was the QC equivalent of an endgame manual as you hadn’t made it clear that it was more of a series with these two rook endgame books to come and possibly more ( minor pieces??).
Yes and nearly 900 pages is definitely enough!
I miss handling a real book before you buy to see whether it fits the bill whether it be in Hope Street or at a congress and providing some extra context in this blog is much appreciated ??
@JB
I don’t in any way accept that the book did not focus on what it said it would. Never have. I never kept it a secret that rook endings were not a big part of the book and that they are a separate universe to technique. Because they really are. Technique is the space where positional play and endgames meet. It is most often multi-piece endings; which is also what you mainly find in the book. There is no point in debating exchanges in rook endings, for example. Or fortresses. They are so rare.
But yes, it is a series of let’s say 7 books, 5 of them being published in one volume…
@Jacob Aagaard
I wasn’t suggesting you were in any way trying to keep things a secret and possibly everyone in an inner circle such as the Killer Chess Training group were fully aware but it was a surprise to me as a bog standard customer so apologies if you mentioned it somewhere that rook endgames weren’t part of the book. I thought I read this blog pretty thoroughly but must have missed it, it certainly isn’t in the blurb though it is in the excerpt if you read it carefully but without the context of two rook endgame books to follow.
Not to matter as I’ll soon have the complete set (of 7 ?) and any temporary annoyance I had at the time will be long gone.
Congratulations for winning the ECF book of the year! It may be a battle for the two rook endgame books to win next year’s title…maybe you can persuade the judges to see them as a pair?
Four puzzles in, and I am thoroughly enjoying Endgame Labyrinths so far. If the rest of the Grandmaster Training series will be like this, then it’ll be even better than the Grandmaster Preparation series. And that is saying a lot. 🙂
@Seth
I am not sure yet what will follow in this series. I have some ideas, but nothing is decided.
@JB
5 of the books was in one volume 🙂
Fortresses and Rook vs Bishop were overlapping into the same territory.
I think it is unlikely QC chooses to put my books forward two years in a row. Even if I like the rook endgame book more, it is not fair for the other authors. Maybe as a pair, I don’t know. We have a lot of cool stuff coming!
Cannot wait!
Hard going through the Labyrinth for me but still plugging away … Trying to ignore this is mostly the cut down versions of studies rather than the originals which would be even more challenging ?
How’s everyone else finding it?
On related footnote I was very surprised that the ‘Saveedra theme’ was deemed to be the final Kb3 move with a double threat….I thought it was the chase down the board avoiding the c file due to the skewer and especially the rook underpromotion to avoid stalemate that was made the study special personally . I’m sure there’s lots of studies where a move threatens either a capture or mate but they don’t have that extra wow factor the underpromotion has
Apologies to everyone if a version of this turns up some time in the future as it has been stuck in moderation limbo for a week..hope this fairs better
What’s everyone’s opinion on the ‘Saveedra theme ‘ mentioned on p 28?
“The Saveedra theme involves a double attack. The king simultaneously threatens a back rank mate and the opponents rook” says the book.
For me the Saveedra position is all about the chase down the board avoiding the c file due to the skewer and then just when you thought you overcame that the sudden threat of stalemate on c4 if you promote to a queen and especially the rook underpromotion to foil it.
It’s certainly not about the final move Kb3 simultaneously threatening taking the rook and mate even though this makes the underpromotion work.
There must be thousands of studies that contain this duel threat of mate or material capture as part of the main line but it’s not that which makes the Saveedra position special and is considered the main ‘ Saveedra theme’ which other studies may be inspired by.
Its possibly…Rd4 and definitely Rc8=R underpromotion that are the double exclam moves not Kb3 and indeed in the book Kb3 is given one exclam and Rc8=R two
Or is it just me?
Hi, a couple of questions to author/readers while considering to buy+offer Endgame Labyrinths for Xmas:
(1) Karsten Müller’s review bit is a bit daunting “My student German GM Luis Engel and I solved several of the 1 and 2 star studies and were very impressed… really excellent training material.”
Assuming * and ** are the easiest ones, what is the minimum level to solve most studies and not sigh and go to solutions in despair (like, FM/IM level)? after a few reader-friendly studies, does the level peak up to “horribly difficult”?
(2) Knowing Jacob’s loyalty to Dvoretsky, does the book contains some patented rants in the style of “Let’s see how two world-class GM could botch up such a simple position”. That would be a strong deterrent for me.
(3) is the book good/enjoyable for evening/pub sessions with fellow chess players? that would be my main use case.
Thanks for feedback!
@JB – My two cents on Saavedra: The underpromotion and Kb3 double-attack are inseparable. Historically, the king walk was published as a win, then the …Rd1-d4, c7-c8=Q, …Rd4-c4+ stalemate trick was published as a draw, finally Saavedra became involved and his sensational c7-c8=R!, …Rd4-a4, Kc2-b3! was published as a win, and this last sequence is what made history. You wrote: “It’s certainly not about the final move Kb3 simultaneously threatening taking the rook and mate even though this makes the underpromotion work.” Well, I don’t agree — it is about Kb3 equally as much as it is about c8=R. The final trick Kb3 is the only way to win such a normally drawn rook vs rook without pawns.
@An Ordinary Chessplayer
I agree that Kb3 is essential ( and indeed said so above) but if you told a friend you had composed a study with a Saveedra theme would they expect a study with a move somewhere in the main line that “threatens mate or winning material ” or a move that features ” underpromotion to avoid stalemate “?
I know which one I would be expecting if it was me. Think Steffen wrote the chapter and he’s the study specialist…maybe he could point us in the direction of say an article laying out the Saveedra theme or a tourney based on that theme and we can see what the study specialists think.Quite willing to be surprised and eat my hat