Everyone knows they should work on their endgame play. So many hard-earned advantages are squandered in ‘simple’ endings... But it’s tough finding a way to study endings that doesn’t send you to sleep and that helps you actually remember and apply what you have learnt.

“While endgame theory books are helpful, active participation by the reader is a great aid to learning. I hope that this book of endgame exercises will encourage readers to put their brains in high gear, both to test themselves and to learn more about the endgame. I have spent several months selecting the 444 exercises in this book from what was initially a much larger collection.” – John Nunn

All major types of endgame are covered, together with a wide-ranging chapter on endgame tactics. Examples are drawn from recent practice or from little-known studies. The emphasis is on understanding and applying endgame principles and rules of thumb. You will learn by experience, but always backed up by Nunn’s expert guidance to ensure that the lessons you take away from the book are correct and useful.

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 and won four gold medals at chess Olympiads. In 2004, 2007 and 2010, Nunn was crowned World Chess Solving Champion, ahead of many former champions. In 2011, his two-volume work Nunn’s Chess Endings won the English Chess Federation Book of the Year Award, and was highly praised by Levon Aronian (who read both books cover to cover!) when making the award presentation.

Download a pdf file with a sample from the book.

Watch a YouTube video in which author GM John Nunn presents a sample from this book.

“Another superb endgame book by John Nunn. This excellent tome is titled as an exercise book, so the reader will gain most by attempting to solve the puzzles, but there is no compulsion to do this: the book can also be treated as a practical endgame manual” – FM Richard Webb, British Chess News

“One of the things I like about this book is that each page has 6 positions, and the page after the solutions. This can be a great training tool. For example we decide that 1 day a week we will spend 60 minutes doing endgame exercises. We will solve 6 positions, giving 10 minutes each, and then check the solutions right away. If we do it consistently we will begin to love and appreciate the endgames, with their intricacies” – Davide Nastasio, GEORGIA CHESS NEWS

“Each solution is extensive with clear comments, explanations and variations... the author also advises the reader – if not solving an exercise – to carefully replay the solution. To this end, you might use a chessboard, but perhaps even better: the app (titled GAMBIT CHESS STUDIO 2) that Gambit offers for free on their site. The solutions can be viewed, and you don’t even have to get out of your easy chair to get the chessboard from the cupboard...” – IM Herman Grooten, schaaksite.nl

“The phenomenal John Nunn comes out with a brand-new high value endgame book, based on 444 highly instructive endgame exercises. Some endgame knowledge is required for a good understanding – I am pleased to mention the huge amount of recent games. Nunn certainly does not rest in the past.
Conclusion: super instructive! ” – John Elburg, chessbooks.nl

“Beside the treatment of different endgames, provides the most concise and clear explanation about two difficult chess endgames for the class player, named knight versus bishop and rook versus a minor piece. In two pages the author gives you the models to understand these complex endgames and the right positions to solve. I doubt there is a more amateur friendly author than John Nunn to explain endgames to amateur players” – Miguel Ararat, Florida Chess Magazine

“A book that will keep even the strongest and most ambitious busy. The 444 exercises drawn from practical games and studies are challenging. This can be seen by the scoring chart Nunn provides for the tests at the end of the book. A score of 131 out of 167 (78 percent) is a Grandmaster performance!” – IM John Donaldson

“I particularly liked the idea of the test papers in chapter 10. I could visualize sitting at an old wooden school desk, fountain pen in hand, ink in the bottle and the chess test papers in front of me. Sitting at the head of the class in the finger of sunlight streaming through the window was the teacher, Dr. Nunn, peering over his round spectacles like a wise old owl – getting ready to say ‘turn over your paper and begin’. I would not have been his best pupil, that’s for sure but he would hopefully have given me a good mark for endeavour. Just try. Have a go. Teacher Nunn is on our side! He wants us to do well.
I really enjoyed and will continue to enjoy this book. The layout is excellent. The style is very supportive of easy learning and of course it has the GAMBIT stamp of approval” – Carl Portman, Carl Portman Blog