Essential Chess Endings: The Tournament Player's Guide

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Intermediate Level End Game Book
Review: Background: Currently, my ELO fluctuates between 1950 to about 2000, and I've made steady progress from about 1500 3 years ago. My initial upward surge could be attributed to a lot of tactical practice, and applying good middle game principles, and avoiding rapid chess. Most importantly, I kind of over-analyzed my losses, which really helped.
Just to give you a reference point, I'd give the Amateur's Mind 4 stars, although of course, it's a different subject (the Middle Game). Quite simply, James Howell has written a very high quality and more importantly, a very verbose end game (EG) book that I think is the ideal 2nd stage book on the EG. I also happen to have Dvoetsky's EG manual CD, and I realized that I was much better served by following Dvoertsky's own advice - learn a few concrete positions on the EG, but learn them thoroughly. If you've completed a basic chess ending's book such as those by Seirawan, Pandolphini, etc., then this book is a highly recommended next step.
I throughly enjoy Howell's didactic writing style - he takes the time to give you guidelines (often 4 or 5 steps) for both the superior side and the inferior side. I've learned not only the correct plan or technique to execute a winning position, but also, the correct plan to make life a lot harder for my opponent when my position is inferior. This is a critical piece of advice, given that (your opponent's) time pressure often allows you to save a lost ending. Another important thing about his heavy use of text and guidelines is that it is important for an intermediate level player (roughly 1600 - 1900 ELO) to have the ideas explained in detail. This is a little different from tactics books/CDs where the emphasis is on practice, practice, and more practice along multiple themes/motifs.
I'm quite surprised that this book hasn't gotten much press (although Silman's comments that this is a quality book is spot on).
My suggestion: After going through a basic endings book/CD/pgn file, this is a GREAT next step. I've finished 75% of this book over a 3 month period (remember, study these positions thoroughly), and I'm pretty sure that Dvoretsky's will be a very good next step.
Finally, as I look back at all the various books and phases I've picked up, I can firmly conclude that the thing that has helped me most is lots of tactical practice (starting with Winning chess Tactics, and then the George Renko CD), along with a basic understanding of the MG (Amateur's Mind), and then James Howell's book. This is a short & sweet, but very good quality book.

Rating:
Summary: AbsolutelyEssential! Beginners, Intermediates, WeakAdvanced
Review: Jeremy Silman in "Inside Chess" writes that Essential Chess Endings, along with Soltis' Grandmaster Secrets: Endings and Shereshevsky's Endgame Stratey, are three books that together provide 2400 level knowledge of the endgame. Howell explains clearly and thoughtfully king & pawn endgames, rook & pawn endgames, minor piece endings, queen endings, pawnless endings, etc. He insists you think for yourself but he does provide general principles to guide one's calculations. I read the book as 1800 USCF player and found it to be both useful and interesting. Yes, interesting! If you're bored or afraid of endgames, but know you must study them anyway, try Howell.

Rating:
Summary: one of best endgame books available
Review: This book contains about 80 endgame examples clearly explained in sentences, not just notation symbols. The detailed explanations, along with an emphasis on the most commonly occuring practical positions, make this book special. Designed for intermediate tournament level players between 1700 and 2100 elo rating, this book uses mostly grandmaster examples from recent matches The emphasis of the book is on explaining the main line of play and does not get lost in a maze of endless analytical variations. This is an excellent book destined to become a classic.

Rating:
Summary: one of best endgame books available
Review: This book contains about 80 endgame examples clearly explained in sentences, not just notation symbols. The detailed explanations, along with an emphasis on the most commonly occuring practical positions, make this book special. Designed for intermediate tournament level players between 1700 and 2100 elo rating, this book uses mostly grandmaster examples from recent matches The emphasis of the book is on explaining the main line of play and does not get lost in a maze of endless analytical variations. This is an excellent book destined to become a classic.