The Secret to Using Pawns

What would we imagine when we think of positional chess? Is it the maneuver of pieces? Or is it open/locked positions? But there is another crucial element that may affect your gameplay: pawn structures. Ever heard of the quote "Pawns are the soul of chess." - by Chess master Philidor? Well, the meaning of it is pretty clear, with the correct pawn play, you will be able to...

• Suffocate your opponent
• Create attacking chances
• Better/easier endgames for you

However, that is easier said than done. So let's start the blog on how you can use pawns in different parts of the game.

Opening Stage: Learn the structure

In this section, we will start with the opening stage. Almost every decent opening contains a lot of different pawn structure that will determine the fate of the game, which many of us might overlook. Here are some classic opening examples that will provide you a better idea of how to play the opening.

Caro Kann:

The opening shown above is the Caro Kann defense. In the position demonstrated above, black has taken on the center with the C-pawn. Can you identify the plan for black, judging by white's pawn structure? Yep, it is Nf5 followed up with Qb6 to attack White's d-pawn. Although White's center might seem menacing to you, black's game plan is to pile pressure in the center and follow up with moves like f6 in the future. Let's see another example.

KID:

Now this is the classic King's Indian Defense. Based on the position, the center is closed, and black is aiming to undermine the kingside, while white will focus the pawns and maneuver pieces on the queenside. Both sides have attacking chances with moves like b4, c5 for white, and g5, f5 for black. So the game often gets pretty hectic. Now, I hope you get a better idea of the pawn structure in the opening, and what they do.

Middlegame - Expand, expand, expand!

A good example to show how you can push pawns to create offense chances is the chess.com Immortal Game played by GM Supi and GM Carlsen. Keep in mind how Supi converted his advantage by expanding his pawns to attack.

I believe that demonstrates how pawns can help by starting an attack. White sacrifices the knight in order to get an open file for the rook. And the pawn on b5 also helped to initiate the queen sacrifice, to block the kings escape route. Let's see another more positional game played by none other than... myself 😉

Exciting right? I felt so relieved after the game. Regardless of my feelings, lets take a look at some of the key moments in the game. 

1. Taking advantage of the move 11. c6?! by spotting the black-square weaknesses in the position.
2. Rerouting the knight to b6, gaining a lot of extra space.
3. Moving the bishop to an annoying square for the opponent... 23. Bc7
4. 36. Qd2 to take advantage of the mistake black made on 35. Qg4?
5. Maneuvering the queen to h4, with sacrifices to open up the king.
6. 43. Bxh5!! sacrificing the bishop, threatening a discovered check.
7. It is always the third mistake that kills you... 43. gxh5?? Hanging a mate

Now, with those example, I hope you can get a better understanding of using pawns to start an attack, or just simply just control your opponent's position via expanding.

Endgame - Being precise

Endgame skills are important. It is the last phase of the game that will determine how the game ends: lose, win or draw. Here is an simple example to show you your plan with your pawns.

Now who can guess what white are trying to do here? The plan is to merely just block black's ed5 passed-pawn, and using your queenside pawn majority to try to promote in the endgame. Let's see 2 other example that focus on pawns.

Puzzle #1:

This is a unique position that demonstrates the technique called "Break through" perfectly. Now, what is the best move in the position for white? It is 1. f5. Now, black is forced to take, and the e5 pawn is now unstoppable. 

Puzzle #2: