Foreword
Dear chess partisan,It is with great pleasure that I hereby present you with Russian Grandmaster Alexey Dreev’s “Practical Play in theEndgame", a continuation of "Practical Play in the Middlegame" (released in 2018, by Thinkers Publishing).Dreev has for the past three decades been internationally regarded as one of the most tenacious and consistent chess players in the world. His results speak for themselves, including, but not limited to, the World Blitz Championship Title, Gold Medals at the Chess Olympiad with the Russian national team, World Championships Candidate Tournaments, and numerous 1stplace finishes at internationally renowned tournaments at the elite level such as “Wijk aan Zee” and “Biel” -to only name a few. Even more importantly, with respect to this book, Dreev has been able to draw from his extensive and direct interaction as a pupil with the legendary and instructive chess genius Mark Dvoretsky.
The author’s aim in this volume is to improve the tournament chess player and professional alike in their ability to evaluate and execute crucial and hard-fought practical endgames -either in converting a winning position or holding a draw. This book will also sharpen the player’s overall cognitive competences in practical situations, where the normal laws of endgame theory have little or no value. Dreev accomplishes this by providing categorized and detailed examples with clear commentary from his own tournament games, as well as from other Grandmasters’ at the elite level.
Throughout the translation of this book from Russian to English, I have attempted to adhere as strictly as possible to the author’s original content, so as to provide the most authentic experience between the reader and the author. Therefore, certain passages in the examples might appear unduly mechanical or dry from a purely linguistic standpoint. However, I have purposely chosen this path, to avoid any excessive wording or phrasing, and provide the reader with the most unequivocal, clear-cut access to the material without attempting unnecessary augmentations.
In conclusion, I believe that the examples in this book are of very high value for both elite and aspiring chess players -even in the 21stcentury, a time of computer analysis and evaluation. The works themselves come from the highest level of tournament play, and many of the examples have an “etude” feel to them, wherethe solutions are often quite nonstandard, yet entirely practical from a critical over the board situation. The book before you engages the reader in useful calculations all the while expanding the player’s perception and confidence in a phase of the gamewhere computer theory and preparation are of little value.
Sincerely,
Alexander HartBerlin,
August 2019
Excerpt
