by Ian Rogers and Laszlo Hazai

Foreword by Boris Gelfand

272 pages, SRP $24.95

Excerpt

 February 2025

Excellent Ennui!

Chess, so the theory goes, takes 10,000 hours of practice to master. Clearly not all of those hours will be enjoyable and studying 80 endgames featuring a specific isolated pawn is definitely not in the fun category. This is where The World’s Most Boring Chess Book comes in.

What The World’s Most Boring Chess Book lacks in entertainment, it makes up in examples explaining how to push for a win in an endgame where one side is saddled with an isolated pawn, and how to defend against such efforts. The commentary which accompanies the deep analysis, makes the subject accessible but never easy: even the endgames with just kings and pawns are surprisingly challenging.

Isolated pawns are one major type of technical position. One can find oneself in such a position from many different openings, or at the end of a middlegame or endgame battle. Hundreds of fascinating games have been played with an isolated pawn and Rogers and Hazai deeply analyse 80 of them in this book… [A] reader will learn which pieces it is better to exchange, when one can wait patiently, and when one needs to look for active counterplay… If you are not shy about working diligently and want to improve your technique, then this book is for you! – From the Foreword by Boris Gelfand

Many chessplayers are uncomfortable in positions which have an isolated d-pawn. With the help of the authors, you will come to embrace these positions, whether on offence or defence. What excellent ennui!

Hungarian International Master Laszlo Hazai is a noted trainer and theoretician who has worked with elite Grandmasters such as Judit Polgar and Boris Gelfand and multiple World Junior Champions. Hazai is also a gold medal winning Olympic captain for Hungary. This is his first book for Russell Enterprises.

Ian Rogers is an Australian Grandmaster. He is commentator, trainer, and author who has tried to make the book accessible for players below a 2700 rating. His previous works for Russell Enterprises include two immensely enjoyable books, Oops! I Resigned Again! and Oops! I Resigned One More Time!.