Book Review: Silman's Endgame Course vs. 100 Endgames

"Which endgame book should I get?" Many a chess player has been told to study the endgame. "It's the most underrated and important part of the game!" they say. But how? There are many good online resources out there, like Lichess studies, Chess Factor, chessable, and chess.com. But what if you don't want to sit at your desktop or phone all day watching videos? Endgame books are still great for learning, even though our modern day world is almost completely electronic. But which ones are the best? You will find many good suggestions, like "Fundamental Chess Endings", "Capablanca's Best Chess Endings", "Endgame Strategy", ect. But the main three that you hear about are "100 Endgames You Must Know" by Jesus de la Villa, "Silman's Complete Endgame Course" by Jeremy Silman, and "Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual" by Mark Dvoretsky. But we are also told that Dvoretsky's is probably best for advanced players, so we will be focusing on the other two.

"Silman's Complete Endgame Course" and "100 Endgames You Must Know" are two of the most respected endgame books around, and for very good reasons: they are both easily digestible and are useful at almost any level. In other words, you can easily understand the material given, and players at all levels will benefit from reading and using the material. But which one? Alright, alright, I'll get to the reviews. Here, I will shortly review both books and tell you my opinion about how each are presented.

"Silman's Complete Endgame Course"

"Silman's Complete Endgame Course" by Jeremy Silman is one of the most revolutionary endgame books ever. Why? Because, unlike any other endgame book, it divides sections by rating (1000 - 1200) instead of material (Rook + pawn vs. Rook). But that's not all. Silman's way of explaining the endgames given are clear, simple, and easy to understand and replaces dread or boredom of the endgame with interest, hope, or even a love of the endgame. It ranges from complete beginner to 2300+ and never gives too much material. Starting with the "Overkill Mates" (R + K vs. K; Q + K vs. K; R + R vs. K; ect.), Silman works his way up towards "The holy grail of Rook endings" (R + p vs. R) and much more. If you want an endgame book that will give you well-rounded training based on your rating, Silman's amazing book is best for you.

"100 Endgames You Must Know"

"100 Endgames You Must Know" by Jesus de la Villa is an amazing book that gives the student simple explanations for all the vital and common endgames. Starting with basic endings, to make sure you know them, he then proceeds to give the club-player-student a well rounded explanation on all endgames that you need to know: Rook endings, pawn endings, Q vs. p endings, Bishop endings, ect. He mainly targets club-level players, but many masters have benefited from this amazing work. He explains everything in a clear, short, and easy-to-understand way. However, he's not as verbal a Silman, making his work much shorter than Silman's.

Which One is Better?

In my experience, I think that "Silman's Complete Endgame Course" is slightly better, though, many players will criticize this statement. But, to be honest, both are amazing modern classics and it doesn't matter which one you chose, because both will make your understanding of the endgame much better. You don't really need both, because they cover many of the same subjects. It is mainly a matter of taste for me. I like Silman's verbal approach, but many will like de la Villa's simple-to-the-point approach better than "pointless jabbering". But the bottom line is both are books that will make you better. They will install confidence where there used to be dread, love where there used to be hate, and attention where there used to be boredom. Have fun reading these classics!

Final Thoughts

I hope you are satisfied with whatever book you choose, if you are one of many who debate over which book to get. Have fun learning about the ins and outs of the endgame, because a love for the game of chess will get you farther than hours of studying with an attitude of boredom. Please leave a like if this blog post helped and spread it to your friends who are having trouble deciding which book will suit their tastes! See you next time!