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Fritz 1951
White to play and win
Unfortunately for Timman, in the very next issue (New in Chess, 2008/1) a reader pointed out that the study was flawed: After 1.e7 Rh5+ 2.Kg1 Re5 3.Re6 Rxe6 4.g7 a2 5.g8Q+ Kb7 6.e8Q Rxe8 7.Qb3+ Kc7 8.Qc3+ Kb7 9.Qb2+ Kc7 10. Kxf1 Ra8 11.Qa1 exf2 = A case of Fritz refuted by Fritz! This was precisely the point made by John Nunn in the Introduction to the book. At the point of his preparation for his work he had consulted the standard database by Harold van der Heijden with about 60,000 studies. From this collection he prepared a short list of about 2500 compositions from which to choose the exercises for inclusion in this book. It was here that the problems started. To his dismay he found that over 1,000 compositions were flawed. Many of them happened to be well-known compositions. Nunn had used Deep Fritz in combination with the standard Nalimov tablebase to check the soundness of these studies. And this was the result. Indeed, every endgame study today has to withstand scrutiny under the pitiless glare of computers to pass muster for correctness. So how valid is the point made by Timman? While the book has a large number of studies by modern masters like Kasparian and Gurgenidze it does not overlook the efforts of past masters like Troitsky and Rinck either. Contemporary artists like Matous, Kralin and Pervakov are also well-represented. But the fact remains that a number of masters like Mandler, Fritz and Dobrescu are excluded. What is more, quite a few great players from the past like Duras and Keres (who were composers in their own right) also do not find their rightful place in the book. This point, however, cannot be overstated. When John Nunn set out to write this book, he did not have the object of making a representative anthology of endgame studies. Rather his idea was to offer these positions in an instructive format so that the solver would improve both his endgame play and also his tactical skill. Indeed, Nunn goes to serious lengths to explain difficult ideas in the endgame like reciprocal zugzwang in this book. While the studies take up only a quarter of the pages, most of the space is devoted to solutions and the explanation therein. Both the solver and the connoisseur can enjoy this book. In my view this title deserves a second edition. If each composer is represented by a single study, it would be possible to have the work of 250 authors within the covers of the same book. There has been a rich crop of original studies since the publication of this title in 2002. It would be a good idea to include some of them in the next edition. The following studies are taken from the book: I
White to play and draw
White to play and win
White to play and win
White to play and win
From the Publisher's website: John Nunn is a grandmaster from England. He has won four individual gold medals and three team silver medals at Chess Olympiads. He is arguably the most highly acclaimed chess writer in the world - he has twice won the prestigious British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award. In 2004 he won the World Chess Solving Championship, and repeated the feat in October 2007 with a record winning score of 89/90. Download a pdf file with a sample from the book. For another view of this title, see Bill Whited's review.
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