Review 701

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Endgame Workshop, by Bruce Pandolfini, 2009 Russell Enterprises, Inc.,
Algebraic Notation, Paperback, 251pp., $19.95
Endgame Workshop, by prolific writer and

instructor Bruce Pandolfini, consists of lessons
developed by Pandolfini over the past thirty-plus
years. More specifically, five specific courses
taught by the author, to classes consisting of
players with USCF ratings between 1600 and
2000, served as the impetus for this text.
Basic but crucial endgame material is presented, Let's Play Chess

although much of what is here has relevance to by Bruce Pandolfini
earlier portions of the game as well. The table of
contents clarifies the nature of the book:
● Lesson 1: Opposition
● Lesson 2: Queen
● Lesson 3: Queen and rook
● Lesson 4: Rook
● Lesson 5: Two bishops
Play through and download ● Lesson 6: Bishop and knight
the games from ● Lesson 7: Minor pieces
ChessCafe.com in the ● Lesson 8: Corners
DGT Game Viewer. ● Lesson 9: Queen vs. rook
● Lesson 10: The exchange Dvoretsky's Endgame
The Complete ● Lesson 11: Rook and minor piece vs. rook Manual
DGT Product Line ● Lesson 12: Major piece tandems by Mark Dvoretsky
● Lesson 13: Pawn endings
● Lesson 14: More opposition
● Lesson 15: Critical squares
● Lesson 16: Outside critical square
● Lesson 17: Minor pieces and pawns
● Lesson 18: Quadrangle of the pawn
● Lesson 19: Outflanking
● Lesson 20: More complex outflanking
● Lesson 21: Corresponding squares
● Lesson 22: Outside passed pawn
● Lesson 23: Diagonal king moves
● Lesson 24: Queen against pawns
● Lesson 25: Rook against pawns A Practical Guide
● Lesson 26: Minor pieces against pawns to Rook Endgames
● Lesson 27: Minor pieces and pawn vs. minor pieces by Nikolay Minev
● Lesson 28: More minor pieces and pawns
● Lesson 29: Rook tricks Read an excerpt here.
● Lesson 30: Various matters
Pandolfini writes, “Clearly, this is not an all-inclusive manual. Yet I can

say that most of what appears here has been fashioned for real people
with real problems about chess problems.” That’s a mouthful, but it does
explain Pandolfini’s approach. It’s not an encyclopedia, in the manner of
Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual, and it’s not a progressive step-by-step
manual on the order of Silman’s Complete Endgame Course. Instead,
Endgame Workshop is Pandolfini being Pandolfini. He writes in his
refreshing, slightly offbeat manner, so that the reader feels that he is
sitting one-on-one with the author.
An odd thing happened going through this book. At numerous points, just
as I was preparing to skim forward because I thought the material was a
little too simple, Pandolfini throws a wrench into the works as if to say,
“still too simple for you?”
For example, he presents the following position:

The board doesn’t get much simpler than this. Pandolfini asks the reader
to find White’s mate in two moves (it’s White to move). Mating is child’s
play here, but how quickly can you find the mate in two? I’ll let you think
about it for a moment – the answer is at the end of this review. Actually,
there are three solutions – can you find them all?
Then a few pages later, after rather simplistic mates with two queens or
two rooks against a solitary king, Pandolfini poses the following problem:
It is White to play and mate in three moves. Pandolfini says, “Through the
years, I’ve posed this problem, and similar ones, any number of times.
I’ve gotten many answers, from the mundane to the intriguing. But I
seldom get the response I’d like to get.” What is your answer, and what
do you suppose is the response the author is seeking? Again, the answer is
below.
Shortly thereafter, Pandolfini spends twelve pages discussing mate with

bishop and knight against a lone king. Who does such a thing? Doesn’t
everyone know that most players will likely never encounter this in a real
game?
Of course, Pandolfini knows this as well. He states, “Why bother to study

something that seems to have little practical significance? True, the actual
mate doesn’t frequently transpire. But how the pieces function effectively
has much greater application. Especially worth knowing is how the two
minor pieces can interact harmoniously. Indeed, they can cordon off wide
areas, preventing the approach of enemy pieces, particularly the opposing
king. This is significant, since control of territory is integral to all phases
of chess, not just the endgame.”
And that’s why the author takes twelve pages to present this material,
something I’ve never seen done in any other chess book (if I did, it
certainly didn’t stick with me, as Pandolfini’s writing does).
There’s nothing terribly complex in this book, and it’s probably not a text
that players much above ELO 1800 will salivate over, yet Pandolfini finds
a way to break the somewhat complex into simpler, easily-digestible
components. His explanations are clear and often humorous. He strives to
present material (frequently with the use of various mnemonics) in such a
manner that it will more likely be recalled when needed. In particular, I
found his description of “critical squares” perhaps the most easily
understandable I have yet seen. His explanation of “the opposition,” when
it is significant and when it is not, is superb. And he sprinkles in useful
little tidbits throughout the text. In addition, quite a bit of space is devoted
to rook and pawn endings and minor piece and pawn endings, so that the
reader is exposed to a large amount of practical material that he is very
likely to encounter rather often. On the other hand, the “corresponding
square” chapter left me just a little hazy.
The one oft-repeated error I found was that references to diagrams are
frequently misstated by one. For example, a reference to Diagram 288
might actually be intended to refer to Diagram 287. It’s a somewhat
annoying occurrence, but fortunately, also a rather minor error. The
reader will quickly realize the author’s true intention.
Pandolfini sums up the nature of his book best when he writes, “This is
not an exhaustive textbook. But it does contain many useful practical
ideas that amateur players can exploit to win and save games. Sometimes
analysis is simply too difficult, and ordinary players can easily wind up
getting lost in a maze of variations.”
If you recognize a bit of yourself in that last sentence, and you’d like an
easy-to-read text that covers a wide range of endgame fundamentals,
Endgame Workshop is your book. Or if you’ve been a bit intimidated by
the idea of endgame study, this is a painless way to dip your feet in
without getting burned.
Answers
White mates in two with 1.Qe5! (or 1.Qb2! or 1.Qh2!) Then if 1…Kd8, 2.
Qb8#. Or if 1…Kf8, 2.Qh8#.
It is White to play and mate in three moves. Pandolfini says, “Through the
years, I’ve posed this problem, and similar ones, any number of times.
I’ve gotten many answers, from the mundane to the intriguing. But I
seldom get the response I’d like to get.” What is your answer, and what
do you suppose is the response the author is seeking?
Pandolfini writes that he’ll often hear a response such as 1.Re6 Kh4 2.
Re3 Kh5 3.Rh3#, or a related answer. But the most comprehensive
answer that Pandolfini almost never hears is that in fact, “any rook move
whatsoever leads to the desired mate in three!”
Order Endgame Workshop

by Bruce Pandolfini
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Practical Pandolfini Visit Shop.ChessCafe.

Endgame Workshop, by prolific writer and

Basic but crucial endgame material is presented, Let's Play Chess

Pandolfini writes, “Clearly, this is not an all-inclusive manual. Yet I can

For example, he presents the following position:

Shortly thereafter, Pandolfini spends twelve pages discussing mate with

Of course, Pandolfini knows this as well. He states, “Why bother to study

Order Endgame Workshop

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists]

© 2009 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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