Solving Endgame Studies

One thing that’s changed dramatically over the past decade or so is the attitude towards chess compositions: problems and studies.

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A few years or so the world of chess composition was regarded by many as an irrelevance to practical players, but now many chess trainers see solving problems and, even more so, endgame studies, as invaluable tools in developing creativity and imagination as well as calculation skills. As I never tire of mentioning, in these days of faster time limits, endings play an increasingly important role in competitive chess, so there are immediate practical advantages as well.

In my large pile of books to review I have three volumes loosely concerned with calculation and tactics, all very different in themselves, and all of which include lots of endgame studies.

Another book on my pile has been written to raise money for Ukrainian charities. My review will be appearing shortly and I’ve used a study from this book in this week’s Richmond & Twickenham Chess Club puzzle, which you can find here.

You can also find the answer to last week’s puzzle, a game position with study-like elements, here.

Is solving endgame studies part of your training régime? If not, then perhaps it should be.

In other news, I’ve also started a new series of annotated games on my club website, the first of which features a game won by Anthony Dod, brother of 5-time Wimbledon Ladies Tennis Champion Lottie Dod, in which he sacrificed both rooks on the same square. There are a number of lessons to be learnt from this game, which you can see here.

Richard James

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Author: Richard James

Richard James is a professional chess teacher and writer living in Twickenham, and working mostly with younger children and beginners. He was the co-founder of Richmond Junior Chess Club in 1975 and its director until 2005. He is the webmaster of chessKIDS academy (www.chesskids.org.uk or www.chesskids.me.uk) and, most recently, the author of Chess for Kids and The Right Way to Teach Chess to Kids, both published by Right Way Books. Richard has been a member of Richmond & Twickenham Chess Club since 1966. Richard is a published author and his books can be found at Amazon. Richard is currently promoting minichess (games and puzzles using subsets of chess) for younger children through his website www.minichess.uk, and writing coaching materials for children (and adults) who want to start playing serious competitive chess, through www.chessheroes.uk. View all posts by Richard James