If you are aware of endgame patterns, you spot key moves quicker, analyse and calculate better, and memorize what you have studied more fully. Most of the patterns Jesus de la Villa presents in this new book are from the phase of the game just before a theoretical endgame turns up. Knowing these practical endgame fundamentals will enable you to fully reap the benefits of what you learned in De la Villa’s widely acclaimed classic 100 Endgames You Must Know.

Studying patterns only makes sense if you are going to encounter them frequently. De la Villa presents those with the greatest practical importance and explains and illustrates them with carefully selected examples. To show the patterns as clearly as possible, he mainly concentrates on positions in which the sides have just one piece. Presenting positions with more pieces risks blurring the picture and making motifs less straightforward.

The fact that players think in patterns has an important side-effect: their endgame errors tend to repeat themselves. That’s why De la Villa has not just included examples from games of elite GM’s but also of amateurs. Errors are extremely instructive and working with this book will seriously reduce the number of typical mistakes you are prone to make. The many practical exercises that De la Villa selected will help you improve and retain what you learned.