HOW TO USE PAWNS IN CHESS

The game of Chess is very interesting and dynamic. There are six pieces used in Chess- namely the King, Queen, Rook, Knight, Bishop and Pawns. Pawns play a very important role on the Chess board. Let's learn more about pawns in this Blog.

CONTENTS:

• INTRODUCTION TO PAWNS
• DIFFERENT PAWN STRUCTURES
• HOW PAWNS ARE USED IN OPENINGS
• THE RULE OF EN-PASSANT                                          

1.INTRODUCTION TO PAWNS:

Pawns are the smallest pieces on the chessboard. They move in a straight direction and can capture pieces one square diagonally ahead of them. But if it is the first move of a particular pawn, it can move 2 squares in forward direction. For example, you can see this picture to understand the concept of pawns capturing pieces. By the way, pawns can also capture other pawns.

 Every piece on the chessboard has a different value. A Knight is worth 3 points of material, a Bishop also for 3, a Rook for 5, a Queen for 9 and King can be said to be worth anything more than 9. Similarly, pawns are worth 1 point of material.  

How to write the moves of pieces and pawns? A Rook is denoted by the letter 'R', 'K' for a King, 'B' for a Bishop, 'Q' for a Queen and the letter 'N' used for a Knight. But pawns moves are not represented by any specific letter. Pawn moves are written by the square to which they move. For example, if a c-pawn goes to the square c4, the move is simply written as c4. Another example is that if a pawn on h3 captures another pawn on g4, the move is shown as hxg4. Pawn promotion is denoted like this: Firstly written is the square where it reaches. Then '=' symbol is mentioned. Finally the short form of the piece to which the pawn promotes is written.

For example, if a White f-pawn reaches the 8th rank and underpromotes to a Knight, it can be written as f8=N.

2.DIFFERENT PAWN STRUCTURES:

Pawn structures show the different things possible in a position. You can see this picture to learn about pawn structures.

From this picture, we can learn about the following topics: 

• Isolated pawns.
• Doubled and Tripled pawns
• Chained pawns
• Connected pawns
• Passed pawns                                                          

Isolated pawns are pawns that have no neighbours. For example, in this chessboard, White's f-pawn is an isolated pawn as it doesn't have the g-pawn and the e-pawn beside it. Even if pawns on the edge of the board do not have neighbours, they are isolated pawns. If you notice in this chessboard, White has two more Isolated pawns and Black has one isolated pawn.

If there are two or three pawns on the same file, they are known as doubled and tripled pawns respectively. If you have doubled or tripled pawns, they could be very weak as such pawns cannot defend each other. Just have a look at the same chessboard. Black has doubled pawns on the e-file.

If there are two or more pawns connected, they are known are connected pawns. Connected pawns that are on the same colour complex of each other are called chained pawns. You will understand about connected and chained pawns from this chessboard.

Finally, what are passed pawns? Pawns that can easily pass to the 1st or 8th rank and that don't have any pawns blocking their path are known as Passed pawns. Even if pieces (other than pawns) are blocking their path, they are considered to be passed pawns.

3.HOW PAWNS ARE USED IN OPENINGS:

Pawns are very important in openings to determine pawn structures. A well-known structure in the Stonewall structure, where you put the majority of your pawns on the same colour complex. These structures come in Queen's Pawn positions. White puts most of his pawns on dark squares and Black puts a majority of his pawns on light squares. Pawn structures in openings determine how the pieces can play. In the stonewall structures, as a majority of pawns is in the same colour, that coloured Bishop may not play a great role in the game. Similarly in most of the Sicilian positions, the Black pawns are placed in such a way that White can't easily move forward. When opponents gets isolated pawns in the opening, you should focus mainly on blockading the pawn, removing its key defenders and grab the pawn. The person with the isolated pawn wants to trade more pieces so that the isolated pawn can't be attcked easily. From this we can infer that pawns and pieces are linked to each other in openings. There is this link even in middlegames and endgames.

4.THE RULE OF EN-PASSANT:
This is one of the special rules in the game of Chess. This rule can be implied when a White pawn is on the 5th rank and a Black pawn on the 4th. When the pawns are placed as said above and a pawn of the opposite colour moves two squares forward, the pawn can actually be taken assuming the fact that the pawn crossed the previous rank from where it

could have been taken. Here is an example of En Passant. According to me, this is a very important rule in Chess because in some cases of endgames with pawns, it doesn't allow the enemy pawns to move up two squares easily.

I hope you enjoyed this Blog. Meet you in my next Blog! And please see my other Blogs too.