Secrets of Pawnless Endings (B5) (HQ Scan)

“a must-have for anyone, anywhere … one of the greatest works in the history of chess and science.” – GM David Norwood, The Daily Telegraph

An expanded edition of a ground-breaking work

After the success of Secrets of Rook Endings, John Nunn turns his attention towards endgames without pawns. These occur surprisingly often in practice and are extremely tactical in nature. This book unites man and machine in the search for ultimate answers. The computer databases created by Ken Thompson, formerly of Bell Laboratories, can state with certainty the correct result of any position with five pieces or fewer. John Nunn has extracted the most important information from these databases and presented it in the form of guidelines and specific key positions, which can be more readily digested by the human mind. With most competitive games these days being played to a finish in a single session, this knowledge may prove invaluable over the board.

This is a new and expanded edition of an important book. Since the first edition was published, the databases for many six-man endings have been created, resulting in some surprising and paradoxical discoveries. The coverage has therefore been expanded to include the most interesting features of these endings.

Dr John Nunn is one of the best-respected figures in world chess. He was among the world’s leading grandmasters for nearly twenty years, winning four gold medals in chess Olympiads and finishing sixth overall in the World Cup in 1989. He is a much-acclaimed writer, whose works have won ‘Book of the Year’ awards in several countries. In 2004, 2007 and 2010 Nunn was crowned World Chess Solving Champion, ahead of many former champions.

“a treasure trove of the precisely extraordinary, with considerable practical value for more serious players in the earlier sections” – GM Jon Speelman, The Independent

“By any standards this is a remarkable work by the scholarly Dr Nunn” – British Chess Magazine

“John Nunn never does things by halves, and this book is as thoroughly researched and well produced as his previous publications, some of which have reached almost legendary status. … for any serious chess player is an essential reference tool” – Alan Sutton, En Passant