Third, Improved Edition: January 2008

WINNER of the ECF BOOK of the YEAR 2006 Award!

WINNER: ChessCafe 2006 Book of the Year!

Are you tired of studying endgames that NEVER come up in real life? Here's help! Enjoying endgame tactics is the all-important (but oft-forgotten) first step in mastering this important phase of the game. Endgames are actually fun.

Why is it that most amateur chess players love opening and middle game tactics but hate endgames? Why do they usually look at only a couple of pages in any chess endgame theory book they own? Working through theoretical endgame lessons can seem like a chore if you don't see the fun of it.

ENDGAME TACTICS is an affordable guide that reduces the psychological burden of endgame instruction by showing that endgames are actually quite enjoyable – because of the tactics!
 
There is no substitute for hard work in getting better at chess, but the fact of the matter is that we always work harder at something we love. By enjoying the entertainment of real life endgame tactics, and (at least for the moment) forgetting about theoretical positions that seem distant from everyday practice, the amateur player learns to love the endgame.

Endgames are fun, and ENDGAME TACTICS proves it.

From the report of the judges of the English Chess Federation BOOK of the YEAR 2006 Award:
"Collections of game positions for solving or instruction are not uncommon. Unfortunately many are computer generated with cursory instruction or comment added. This is emphatically not the case here. Van Perlo is a Dutch correspondence grandmaster who collected over a period of 30 years tactical endgames that appealed to him. He cast his net wide and most of the 1105(!) positions were unknown to the judges.

"Van Perlo had a good chess eye for attractive situations and wrote about them in a humorous and entertaining manner. Above all he writes with wicked glee about the changes in fortune that lie in wait on the board for all players. The New in Chess team has edited and organised the material so that there is considerable instructional content in the book. But the winning factor for the judges was the sheer entertainment value."

John Watson, The Week In Chess:
"The thing's addictive!"

British Chess Magazine:
"All chess life is here: brilliant wins, amazing draws and not infrequently defeat snatched from the jaws of victory."

Don Aldrich, ChessToday:
"The instruction indeed comes with a spoonful of sugar. It cannot help but to improve your chess, painlessly, even enjoyably. The annotations are light and sometimes quite witty."

ChessLife:
"Destined to achieve classic status."

Thomas Behrens, Chess-International:
"The most entertaining endgame book I ever had in my hands, and one of the most instructional."

Glenn Petersen, ChessCafe:
"A fantastic collection of endgame positions from actual play. Van Perlo's respect for the game, his delight in every twist and turn, is undeniable. And it is infectious."