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Pawn-Structures - Why Pawns Are The Soul of Chess
Pawn-Structures - Why Pawns Are The Soul of Chess
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Why should pawns be seen as the soul of chess? And why are the pawns so important?
But in order to play the pawns well, you need to understand how they (and particularly pawn-
structures) affect the game.
Imagine you remove all the pieces from the board and leave only the pawns. What you would
see is the pawn-structure.
The pawn-structure is what remains if you remove all the other pieces
from the board.
At the start of a new game – half of your army consist of pawns and the structure they adopt
will have a large impact on the game.
1. Pieces cannot jump over pawns that block them (except the knights of course)
2. Pawns control many squares that prevent enemy pieces moving to that squares
Notice how much the movements of the Bd7 is affected by the pawns.
In this particular position, then knight is the preferred piece since his
movements are not as restricted, ie. Nf3-d4 (keeping an eye on e6
and c6) could be a useful route for the knight.
The above example shows how pawns can restrict the movement of a piece – even their own
pieces. The black pawn on b5 limits the Bd7 on the queen-side. On the king-side again, the
Bd7 is limited mainly by the white pawns. The white pawn on b4 also plays a useful role in
blocking the advance of the b5-pawn.
A single pawn might not be very strong, but together they’re a formidable team – they control
many squares on the board and can prevent enemy pieces from entering their territory.
Naturally it should also be noted that, in most cases, weak squares near or in the center are
more useful than weak squares on the sides of the board.
Weak squares are squares that cannot be defended. Since pawns are
the main defenders of your territory, a weak square usually refers to a
square inside enemy territory that cannot be defended by a pawn.
The example clearly shows why you should think carefully before pushing pawns, since they
create weaknesses that are permanent.
A weak pawn cannot be defended by other pawns. This means we must use a piece to defend
them. Ideally, we don’t want to allocate valuable pieces to protect pawns – the pawns should
be able to protect themselves, and if they can’t – they are weak.
1. Pawn islands
2. Isolated pawns
3. Backward pawns
4. Pawn chains
5. Pawn phalanx
6. Passed pawns
1. Pawn islands
At the start of a new game all the pawns are connected, but as the game continue and some
exchanges are made, the pawns may become disconnected. When a group of pawns gets
disconnected from the rest of the pawn-structure they become a pawn-island. Generally, the
more pawn-islands you have, the harder it is to defend them all. Therefore, more pawn-island
usually implies a weaker pawn-structure.
2. Isolated pawns
An isolated pawn is a pawn that does not have a pawn on either side of it. Generally an isolated
pawn can be a weakness in your position but on the other hand it also means that your pieces
will have better mobility around an isolated pawn since there movements aren’t restricted as
much. For this reason an isolated pawn is not at weak in the middle-game as it is in the
endgame stage.
3. Backward pawns
A backward pawn is a pawn that is behind the pawns next to him and cannot move forward
without being captured. At the same time this pawn is on a semi-open file that makes it
vulnerable to being attacked, particularly by rooks. Backward pawns are often a significant
weakness in your position.
The d6-pawn can’t advance safely because white controls the square
right in front it.
The square right in front of a backward pawn is usually also a great square to place one of your
pieces.
4. Pawn chains
A pawn chain refers to pawns that protect one another on a diagonal. A pawn chain is often a
fairly strong defensive setup. One downside of a pawn-chain is that the pawns cover either
light squares or dark squares, not both. This implies you will need your pieces to protect the
squares not covered by the pawns. A pawn-chain could also be problematic to a bishop that
moves on the same color squares.
Example of pawn-chains
5. Pawn-phalanx
A pawn-phalanx occurs when 2 or more pawns are placed alongside each other. They are
usually quite useful in attack since together they control a lot of squares in front of them and
the one pawn will support the advance of the other. However, a pawn-phalanx can also
become vulnerable since they’re not defending each another and you will need to use your
pieces to defend them. In such a case they are sometimes referred to as “hanging pawns.”
6. Passed pawns
A passed pawn refers to a pawn that cannot be stopped by enemy pawns from reaching the
other side. This often means your opponent will have to use a piece to stop the passed pawn.
This can give you an advantage since your opponent will have a piece that is tied down in a
defensive task.
The black king is kept busy by the white passed pawn. This mean the
white king can simply walk over and capture the black pawns.
You now know why pawns are the soul of chess and you have a good background with regard
to the theory of pawn-structures.
1. Since pawns can’t move backwards, moving a pawn has permanent consequences. Only
move a pawn when it helps you achieve important objectives.
2. When pawns can’t defend themselves, they are weak. Aim for a situation where your
pawns can defend themselves, else you will have to use your valuable pieces (resources)
to defend them.
There you have it. After going through all of this, you will understand why pawns are so
important in chess! Hopefully this will also help you to give the pawns the attention they
deserve.