One pawn? Meh...

The mistake I see most often among beginners is poor pawn play. They often sacrifice them needlessly, ignore opportunities for pawn captures, or just don't sufficiently protect them. When they see a complex combintion that wins a pawn, they say: "All that trouble just for a pawn? So not worth it..."

The most probable reason for this attitude is the material table. In it, the pawn has the lowest value of all chess pieces, a mere one point. But as you might have heard, this table is very misleading in regard to actual piece value. For example, bishops are more valueable then knights, and not of even value. Same is true of the pawns. When played correctly, their value rises exponentially. The game featured ilustrates that

 If you wish to put your rating over 1400, pawn play is something you must learn.