Secrets of Pawn Endings by Frank Lamprecht and Karsten Muller is the definitive modern chess book on pawn endings from two experts on chess endgame.
Unlike their other work, Fundamental Chess Endings, this book takes a more in-depth look into endgame by focussing on just kings and pawns beginning from simple ones and progressing to the more complex. The book aims to equip players with fundamental knowledge of endgames that will enable them to take on other types as well. This goal is professed in its back cover: “Without an understanding of pawn endings it is impossible to master more complicated endings”.
The book includes plenty of interesting positions with accompanying test positions for readers to solve. It follows the logical conventions that were introduced by noted endgame expert John Nunn giving way to new analyses of various theoretical positions and the assessment of the advantages of every move.
People who have read the book found it to be an amazing and practical guide on the topic. However, some people, mostly average players, found the explanations of pawn endings to be a bit too difficult to fully understand.
The book is better suited for people who already have an introductory background on pawn endings or endgame in general and wish to go deeper on the topic. And to get the most out of going through it, it’s highly recommended that you play the sample positions against a strong chess engine like Fritz.
About the Authors
Frank Lamprecht is a German chess trainer and writer. He gained his International Master title in 1999.
Lamprecht has co-authored two books on endgame with chess grandmaster Karsten Muller, Secrets of Pawn Endings (2000) and Fundamental Chess Endings (2001) which has been awarded Book of the Year by the British Chess Federation.
Karsten Muller is a German mathematician, chess grandmaster and author.
Muller won third at the 1996 German championship and second in the following year. Having an interest in mathematical games, he studied the subject formally and earned his doctorate in mathematics from the University of Hamburg in 2002 just a few years after earning the grandmaster title.
An authority in chess endgame, Muller has also co-authored two books with Frank Lamprecht and a few of his own. He used to write a column called Endgame Corner for ChessCafe.com and is currently a regular contributor for ChessBase magazine.
