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Rogers' Practical Endgame Guide
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 23, 2025
The author, whom Not and I have known since we were all teens, was kind enough to send us a copy of his new book. I couldn't put it down and finished it in a couple of days. I have rarely enjoyed a chess book so much, but at the end I was suddenly overcome with doubts. How could a book about chess endings, a notoriously dry and technical subject, be simultaneously useful, insightful, philosophical, packed with memorable anecdotes and, most suspicious of all, laugh-out-loud funny? It was evidently too good to be true; all the plausible-sounding talk about The Knowledge, the Injustice Patterns, the Three Rules of Queen Endings and so on was just that, talk. There had to be a trick, but somehow I couldn't put my finger on it.
Well, I was still wondering where the trick was as Not and I watched the final tie-break game in the Sindarov-Martinez match from the quarter-finals of the ongoing World Cup. Martinez, Black, has been under heavy pressure throughout, but now on move 55 he's just reached this position:
The chess engine who's doing the live commentary has already figured out what Martinez needs to do; the arrow shows its recommendation, 55...Bd6. Of course, many computer moves are too deep for humans to find, but if only Martinez had read Ian's book he could well have recalled the principle of the Hyperactive King: in endings it's often right to charge your king up the board, since it's one of your best pieces. The engine's brief analysis confirms that this is, indeed, a textbook Hyperactive King position. White's most testing try is probably 56. Rf5+, but then Black answers 56... Ke6. If White persists with 57. Rf6+, Black resolutely plays 57...Kd5, reaching this position:
The Black king, on the wonderful d5 square, is so strong that Black can now hold the balance quite easily. As you can see from the arrow, the engine thinks White has nothing better than repeating moves with 58. Rf5+.
Call it anecdotal if you like, but I'm convinced. It's not a trick. If you're over 1500 and want to play endgames better, buy a copy of this book.
Well, I was still wondering where the trick was as Not and I watched the final tie-break game in the Sindarov-Martinez match from the quarter-finals of the ongoing World Cup. Martinez, Black, has been under heavy pressure throughout, but now on move 55 he's just reached this position:
The chess engine who's doing the live commentary has already figured out what Martinez needs to do; the arrow shows its recommendation, 55...Bd6. Of course, many computer moves are too deep for humans to find, but if only Martinez had read Ian's book he could well have recalled the principle of the Hyperactive King: in endings it's often right to charge your king up the board, since it's one of your best pieces. The engine's brief analysis confirms that this is, indeed, a textbook Hyperactive King position. White's most testing try is probably 56. Rf5+, but then Black answers 56... Ke6. If White persists with 57. Rf6+, Black resolutely plays 57...Kd5, reaching this position:
The Black king, on the wonderful d5 square, is so strong that Black can now hold the balance quite easily. As you can see from the arrow, the engine thinks White has nothing better than repeating moves with 58. Rf5+.
Call it anecdotal if you like, but I'm convinced. It's not a trick. If you're over 1500 and want to play endgames better, buy a copy of this book.
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November 22, 2025This is by Australian chess grandmaster Ian Rogers (1960-), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Rog...
not
Canadian horror writer Ian Rogers (1976-) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Rog...
Goodreads lumps them together. So does worldcat: https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=... Ian"
not
Canadian horror writer Ian Rogers (1976-) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Rog...
Goodreads lumps them together. So does worldcat: https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=... Ian"
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews