Conceptual Rook Endgames

Rook endgames are the most frequently recurring endgames and also one of the most exciting areas of chess, with mind bending tactical opportunities and dizzying nuances available. They have unsurprisingly been a big topic in endgame literature, with a heavy focus on the set theoretical positions and their logic and fixed conclusions (see the excellent Theoretical Rook Endgames by GM Sam Shankland, published as a sister volume to this book as the peak example of this).

Conceptual Rook Endgames goes in a different direction. Focused on two dozen major concepts, the book explains the mechanisms of rook endgames in a novel way, by building foundations with simple examples, which can be seen in the most complicated examples as well. Rook endgames will remain rich and surprising, as they are for the greats, but armed with this book, your comprehension of them will skyrocket.

Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard is the most talented chess writer of his generation. He won the British Championship in 2007, but is mostly known for his multi-award winning books and his work with students that have won club, country, state, national, continental and world championships, as well as Olympiad golds (board and overall), the World Cup and Candidates tournament.

Reviews

FM Carsten Hansen (American Chess Magazine)
“This book by Aagaard will make your head spin. It is HARD. Yet, when reading through it, for me the material came to life, the analysis was understandable, and within my intellectual grasp. This is thanks to Aagaard’s excellent handle on picking great examples (including many from games and players that I had never heard of before), annotating them well with a lot of prose, and not drowning the presentation in lengthy pieces of unannotated analysis.”