In the vast ocean of chess literature there are relatively few books about the endgame, and only a few of them can be considered true chess classics. And the most outstanding among the classics — Reuben Fine's book "Basic Chess Endings". Reuben Fine (1914−1993) was for a long time one of the best chess players in the world. As an author, Fine showed himself to be an excellent analyst who understood the full depth and peculiarities of the endgame. Having studied various types of standard positions, Fine established useful rules for practical play and proved himself to be an experienced teacher who, using skillfully chosen examples, was able to teach the reader all the necessary lessons and introduce him to the basic ideas of the endgame. Many generations of chess players in different countries of the world keep copies of “Basic Chess Endings”. For example, Mikhail Botvinnik considered Fine's work the most worthy of all that had ever been written on endgame theory.

The 2nd edition, revised and supplemented, of the popular monograph, which is dedicated to one of the most combat modern debuts – the Old Indian defense. The author meticulously builds the entire defensive line of black (including on the territory of "adjacent" openings, such as the English beginning or the London system), explains standard plans and tactical techniques, offers a number of novelties in current schemes. Carefully selected positions for the solution will help the reader to consolidate the acquired knowledge. The book is addressed to chess players of any level, since the laws of Old Indian are the same for both amateurs and super grandmasters.

The authors continue to study typical opening and middlegame positions. Royal Fortress No. 2 has pawns on squares f7, g6, h7 (or f2, g3, h2), and they are usually joined by another defender – bishop on g7 (g2). This formation is called fianchetto, it is found in many popular openings, such as the Catalan Opening, King's Indian Defense, Grunfeld Defense and a number of others.  The authors analyze in detail the techniques of attack, defense and counterattack. Most examples – from the creativity of modern chess players (for example, a separate chapter is dedicated to the strongest Russian grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi); they are complemented by parts that have become a classical heritage. The book contains about 300 positions for independent solution, so it is not only a textbook, but also a solid problem book. Grandmaster Konstantin Chernyshov, head of the Interregional Grandmaster School in Kostroma, and his daughter International Master Natalya Kareva – experienced coaches, whose students include grandmasters and masters, champions of Russia and Europe among juniors.  The book is addressed to young chess players and their mentors. 

The book by grandmaster and experienced coach Alexander Galkin is dedicated to the strongest piece on the chessboard – to the queen. Using the example of episodes from games of modern grandmasters (the vast majority of games date back to 2020-2023) and his own grandmaster practice, the author tries to generalize, and in some places even clarify the methodology for understanding and playing queen endings, as well as other types of endgames with the presence of queens ) On the desk. The book presents various ratios of material – “queen against queen”, “queen and minor piece against queen and minor piece”, “queen and rook against queen and rook”, “queen against two rooks”, “queen against rook and pawns”, “ queen against a rook and a minor piece”, “two queens against two queens” – practically the entire spectrum of encountered endgames of this type. The material is structured in such a way that the reader can get maximum benefit from studying the examples of queen endings and its other derivatives offered by the author. The book is aimed at advanced chess players, is useful for coaches and can be recommended to a wide range of chess fans.

The youngest first–grader in the USSR, the world champion among young men, a participant in the candidates tournament at the age of 19 - Boris Spassky's rise was rapid. And then fate gave the brilliant chess player a test of strength: he stumbled twice at the decisive moment and remained beyond the threshold of interzonal tournaments ... Only ten years after his first great success, Spassky managed to pass all the qualifying tests and earn the right to a match for the crown, but he failed to defeat the Iron Tigran Petrosian the first time. It took three more years of super–efforts: by Sisyphus he rose again to the foot of Olympus and did not miss a second chance - in 1969 he became the Tenth king of chess! An essay about the life of Boris Vasilyevich and his sporting path full of ups and downs was written by Dmitry Oleynikov, Candidate of Historical Sciences, curator of the Chess Museum of the Chess Federation of Russia. 70 beautiful and instructive games of Spassky were commented on by the champion of Russia in 1993, the famous author and theorist grandmaster Alexey Bezgodov, as well as grandmaster Dmitry Kryakvin and FIDE master Steve Giddins. The preface was written by the 14th world champion Vladimir Kramnik. For a wide range of chess fans.