Does anyone know if this might be available in non-descriptive notation and have a source?
Reuben Fine’s book “Basic Chess Endings” was revised by Pal Benko in 2003. The revised edition uses algebraic notation.
I believe the only books in the Reuben Fine series that were changed to algebraic notation were “Ideas Behind the Chess Openings” and “Basic Chess Endings.” I have first book in both the algebraic and descriptive notation editions. The other books of the series, “The Middle Game in Chess” and “Chess the Easy Way”, which is a condensed edition of the all of the books, do not appear to have been converted to algebraic notation. There is also a pamphlet, published many years ago that has corrections to “Basic Chess Endings.” It is in descriptive notation, too. I imagine most of this was incorporated into the algebraic edition by Benko along with further corrections.
All of these books may appear to be archaic to the modern reader, but they were the basis for learning chess for a couple of generations, until the Fischer era. “Ideas Behind the Openings” gives very little guidance on playing the King’s Indian, Grunfeld, Benoni, or other Indian-style defenses like the Pirc or Modern Defense. It is okay for beginning to learn some aspects of 1. e4 e5 and 1. d4 d5 openings. After that, opening theory has evolved way past Fine’s analysis and recommendations. “The Middle Game in Chess” is actually pretty good in introducing fundamental concepts. The book is built in layers for the aspiring player to build up his skills. “Chess the Easy Way” was a pretty decent introduction to chess and condensed the three volumes to a manageable book for the beginner. In each section there is a set of “rules” for the conduct of the game. These “rules” laid down by Fine are the basis for how chess positions are evaluated. They are the condensed wisdom and experience of generations of chess masters, like Steinitz, Tarrasch, Nimzovich, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, et al. who had written about the game for amateurs. Fine, who had worked with Max Euwe, attempted to explain the logic behind the game and the type of technique that masters used to win games. He also pointed out that one could not always go by the “rules” and that masters knew when to apply exceptions. “Chess the Easy Way” was my first chess book, the study of which helped me to earn an initial rating of 1740 way back in the day when dangerous dinosaurs who had played Marshall and Alekhine still roamed the earth. Some of those dinosaurs pointed out many other newer books for me to study, but they had studied Fine, Reinfeld, and Tarrasch to sharpen their claws.
“Basic Chess Endings” has always been criticized for the many mistakes that were in the book. Avid players dissected the book and challenged many of the details. I used to see corrections every month published in the pages of Chess Life & Review. Fine was a pioneer in creating a compilation of all available knowledge of the endgame. As usual, pioneers get the arrows. His general conclusions in most cases were sound, even if some of the details were “cooked” by endgame problemists, masters, and amateurs. The book was the go to book if you had an adjourned position. Later books on endgames have cleaned up many of the mistakes and applied computer analysis and table bases to analyze the positions. Even with all of the modern corrections, Fine was pretty good in tearing apart thousands of endings and explaining how they had been played by masters. This book provided the method for further study.
Thanks. It also costs at least $32 used. Too much for what it is by today’s market. Again, thanks.
Where are you looking? $9.99 + 3.99 shipping.
When I bought my first copy of “Basic Chess Endings”, it cost $3.95. That was a lot at a time when the average paperback novel cost less than a dollar to buy. Over time the cost of the book went up. The size of the book also increased because of the use of thicker, cheaper paper that deteriorated faster. The last copy I found, with severely yellowed pages, was a few months ago at Half Priced Books, for less than $6. If you want to scour their index, you might find a few books still in their system somewhere in the country. The book become available off and on whenever a collection of chess books comes into one of their stores. You actually might be able to find a copy for less than $10 with a small shipping charge.
While Abebooks is often a good source for used books, Alibris seems to be a better choice in this case. Sometimes its important to search more than one way. Searching on Fine and Benko as authors (in addition to the title) produces ridiculous prices. Searching on Basic Chess Endings and the publication year of 2003 appears to produce several copies of the correct version at a good price.