Finding literature on a reigning World Chess Champion can often be a difficult task. Many writers are not excited to put in the work on an “unfinished” project, as it were, and the player in question is too busy training and playing events to take on such a project themselves. As modern tools allow writers to become much more efficient in their trade, GM Magnus Carlsen is a significant exception to this rule. Already, upwards of ten books have been written about various aspects of his career.
And yet, for quite some time, a glaring gap was undeniable in this otherwise great collection – the absence of works focusing on his endgame skills. Tibor Karolyi’s Endgame Virtuoso Magnus Carlsen: His Extraordinary Skills Uncovered and Explained is the first book to take a comprehensive look at Carlsen’s mastery in the later stages of the game. This fact is surprising, as Carlsen’s technical acumen is a well-known strength, and has been for a great part of his chess career.
To provide some context, Tibor Karolyi is an International Master from Hungary. Karolyi’s success in the chess playing field has not been insignificant – among his accomplishments is becoming the Hungarian champion. However, some of his greatest achievements have come off the board through his work as a teacher and author. GM Peter Leko was his most accomplished pupil, and Karolyi is well known for his writing skills, having authored numerous well acclaimed series, including Karpov’s Strategic Wins and Mikhail Tal’s Best Games.
Endgame Virtuoso Magnus Carlsen gives the reader a very thorough look at each stage of Carlsen’s endgame progression, with chapters including The junior years, The world-class player, and ending in a natural spot: World Champion. While most youngsters are not especially proficient in the endgame, Carlsen is clearly not your everyday chess player. Karolyi managed to unearth some remarkable examples that, in hindsight, show how exceptionally talented Carlsen was from a very early age. This game from when Carlsen was only 11 years old was an impressive squeeze from a seemingly dry endgame position:
Throughout the book, Karolyi does an excellent job highlighting Carlsen’s greatest strengths in the endgame. Particularly well addressed are his keen sense for when to trade bishop for knight and strength in judging opposite-colored bishop endgames. Karolyi also brings many interesting but lesser-known struggles to light from more recently in Carlsen’s career. The 2005 game against Kharlov below shows Carlsen already playing at a very high level (despite some mistakes), especially considering his young age and relative inexperience at that point.
There are only a few small quibbles worth mentioning in this otherwise excellent book. First, Karolyi’s annotations are occasionally quite biased in favor of Carlsen, the hero of the book. His opponent’s mistakes are often not properly touched upon, such as in the game against Kharlov above. Learning both from dazzling technique and the opponent’s errors as well is an important part of endgame mastery, but luckily this issue is the exception, not the rule.
In terms of the book’s organization, serious students might wish that the endgames had been grouped together with similar endgames instead of it all thrown together in one big pot chronologically. Nonetheless, Endgame Virtuoso Magnus Carlsen is a valuable tool for anyone wishing to increase their endgame knowledge. After all, one of the best ways to learn is by studying the greats and Carlsen’s dominance of the sport places him among the best of all time.
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