Endgame Challenge

Rating:
Summary: Quality work, but¿ there are better ways improve endgame!
Review: Content:
Nunn has selected 250 studies, checked them thoroughly using the best chess engines and annotated the positions in great details (approx. 75% of the book is just solutions). Majority of positions look like something that can happen in the real game, however, there are several "weird" looking setups. I consider myself very experienced in practical studies. I believe that solving clever practical study will improve your Endgame knowledge as well as enhance your calculation skills. I have constantly utilized studies in my personal training as well as with my students. I have to admit that the of the number of studies that I tried to solve from Nunn's book, almost all were very challenging and not as entertaining as I would expect.

Quality:
Certainly, this book is very high quality - both presentation and content. Nunn claims to have extensively check every study using the latest and strongest chess software available.

Who will benefit:
Composition/studies aficionado will enjoy this book. Also, extremely high rated player (GM or close strength) who run out of challenging studies to work on.

Overall:
I think that 99% of active players - from beginners through GMs will benefit much more from studying various Endgame books (including some of Nunn's own) then by studying this particular Nunn's book. The reason is that all good endgame books include practical studies and eliminate weird once, while mixing in some important theory. Also solutions are a lot more realistic and involve some strategic planning in addition to pure calculation that is common to studies. Thus you would improve your endgame skills and train calculation skills at once.

When I saw a title "Endgame Challenge" I was expecting a work similar to the book by John Hall with identical name. While not perfect, that book is one of my favorite Endgame exercise books. All of my students own it and utilize it a lot. In addition, you should have a good theory book - works of Fine, Averbach and Alburt (depending on your level) are among my favorite. Also, new book Fundamental Chess Endgames looks very interesting. I would also strongly recommend "Studies" CD from ChessAssistant.

Good luck!
Copyrighted by me!