Secrets of Chess Endgame Strategy

Lars Bo Hansen

• Difficulty: Intermediate, Advanced
• Category: Endgame
• Rating: 1800-2000

I love Hansen’s book because of how easy it is to feel like you’re learning. It’s divided into 4 parts: general principles, pawns, minor pieces and major pieces. Unlike other books that focus on rules and principles, Hansen emphasizes how different pieces should be used or exploited. Alongside that, each chapter is accompanied by examples from real games, mostly from classics, and given snippets of brilliancy in the form of short portions of text explaining key principles such as initiative or suppressing counterplay. What I think stands out the most is Hansen’s chapter on pawn structures and how they determine the flow of play and planning in the endgame. All in all, Secrets of Chess Endgame Strategy is a beginner-friendly endgame book which masters could learn a lot from as well, which isn’t a feat many authors can claim.

• 2022
• Gambit Publications
• Lars Bo Hansen
• Pages: 223
• Physical