Notes

players want endgame skills, but doing the work to actually achieve
this much-needed knowledge is anything but easy. My goal in writing this book was to take a subject that most see as boring and make it palatable, educational, and yes, even fun. Thus the following six essential points make up the philosophy behind Silman’s Complete Endgame Course:
e Rating is important. Players of different strengths need to know different (and level-appropriate) kinds of endgames.
e Guidance is the key. Chess students need to be told which endgames are important for their particular level. Studying endgames that are too advanced for their rating-level will only depress them and waste their time, since they’ll rarely (if ever) have need of such knowledge in the kinds of games/positions that players of their ratings usually reach.
e Give players hope. By telling players that they only need to know a finite amount of easily digestible material (based on their strengths/ratings), you give them hope and confidence. Now they’ll be willing to invest time in learning the recommended positions and ideas because everything is mapped out and
accessible.
© Every player should receive well-rounded training. The correct study of chess calls for balance. For example, a beginner needs to spend very little time on the endgame. (Basic mates are all he or she needs.) Instead, the beginner’s main efforts should be devoted to gaining as much tactical acumen as possible. On the other hand, a tournament player in the 1500 range needs quite a bit of critical but easy-to-learn endgame knowledge if he or she wants to move up the rating ladder. However, such a player shouldn’t indiscriminately study random endgame positions. The balanced study of tactics, strategy, opening theory, and appropriate
endgames is more important here than ever.
@ Create a love for the endgame. Most players seem unable to appreciate anything but a mating attack or a tactic/combination. This is really a shame since they are missing a lot of the game’s