Analyze with KIMPLODES! P = Pawn Structure
KIMPLODES! is an acronym to guide you through the process of analyzing a chess game.
P = Pawn Structure. Pawn Structure is largely about the alignments, or lack thereof, of each side's pawns and how the opposing pawns interact with each other. Accompanying that basic description are specifics such as: holes, outposts and the creation thereof, open structures, closed structures, 4-2 versus 3-3 and other pawn majority questions, pawn breaks, doubled or even tripled pawns, backwards pawns, isolated pawns, hanging pawns, blockaded pawns, pawn islands, pawns that support a Kingside attack or a minority attack, pawn versus piece attacks, and more. Whew. Intrinsically aligned to the question of Pawn Structure is the notion of Space and Squares, which I'll be discussing in a separate blog titled KIMPLODES: S = Space/Squares to be posted five weeks after this blog, assuming I stay on schedule.
Are pawns "the soul of chess"? My materialistic answer: perhaps, but at the very least they are the bones that support the body of the game. For a pragmatic, GM take on that philosophical question (akin to the question of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin), please read GM Gserper's article https://www.chess.com/article/view/are-pawns-the-soul-of-chess.
But for now, let us take a look at a few aspects of Pawn Structure. And then list some initial reference materials for those who want to dive into the depths, rather than merely dipping their toe into the topic in this blog.
The Opening
Barring one rather extreme game (below), both sides move pawns in the opening in order to allow their Bishops and Queen to enter the field of play, and to either begin asserting one player's wish to dominate space or the other's wish to avoid or provoke weaknesses. In the 19th century Pawn Structures often reflected gambit play that reflected the less advanced defensive techniques of most players of the time...even now the Marshall Gambit has many adherents. And other gambits make appearances at times in pursuit of surprise, to catch an opponent unprepared. Not to mention the number of gambits proposed for club players by streamers such as IM Levy Rozman (aka GothamChess), IM Eric Rosen and GM Simon Williams.
As the Romantic era faded, Pawn Structures in the openings entered a phase in which many of the leading players felt that best play mandated battling for the center with pawns. Beginning in the early 20th Century a few "heretics" began attacking these notions, and attacked the central Pawn Structures of the Classicists from afar, often using fianchettoes in attempts to push and pull the Pawn Structures out of position so as to take advantage of the openings this created for infiltrating the enemy position. Or simply picking off the befuddled bits as the strong centers broke down. Both sides tended to be contemptuous of each other, making for much amusing reading of columns in which leading players attacked the family heritage of their perceived detractors and/or inferiors.
Here's a fun neo-hypermodern game for those who don't want to deal with all these Pawn Structure issues.
The Middle Game
Assessments of Pawn Structures continue to evolve under the influence of the silicon chess deities, and the inspiration provided to the leading carbon-based practitioners seeking to stay ahead of the silicon revolution. Even golden guidelines, such as your pawn chain will point to where your play is, are violated by the top practitioners based on their assessment of other factors they believe to be more important (including tournament standings and the skill level and attack/defense preferences of their opponent).
Given the number of important Pawn Structures we will simply look at a few sample games and then refer the interested reader to other resources.
IQP--aggression rewarded even without sacrificing the pawn!
WGM Adriana Nikolova provides an alternative vision of attacking opportunities while possessing the IQP.
Thematic victory against an IQP
GM Tkachiev offers up a lovely strategic victory by blockading the IQP.
Beating the Backwards Pawn
Black makes two small strategic errors and is caught in an almost impossible position to defend. The backwards pawn never moves and was about to disappear from the board in a lost Rook and Pawns endgame when Black resigned. Admirable technique.
Sacrifice a Pawn to Disable the Opponent's Pawn Structure for a Long-Term Advantage
In this 2024 Tata Steel Masters game we follow changes to the Pawn Structure from early in the opening. Then White spies an opportunity to make a long-term pawn sacrifice that debilitates Black's Queenside. As a result, Black is left with an isolated a-pawn and doubled, isolated c-pawns. That structure proves unsustainable in the long run as Black allowed themselves to be lulled into passive, defensive moves rather than seeking counterplay elsewhere.
When Pawn Structure Demands an Exchange Sacrifice
The game below makes no pretensions to operating at the highest levels...this is a simple case of how my evaluations of Pawn Structure influenced my decisions throughout the game. The game starts with a basic Pawn Structure asymmetry with Black pawns on e6, d5 and c5 while White's were stationed on c3, d4 and e3. Soon, pawn chains clearly pointed towards the areas where each player could find ready-made, standard patterns of play (if not quite tabiya, at least close to that). The White pawn chain from b2-d4, after a pawn exchange on d4, indicated White could focus on the K-side, while the Black pawn chain from f7-d5 indicates Black might do well to focus on the Queenside (that never happened so White was able to establish an Initiative). Note that this notion of pawn chains pointing towards the tailor-made area of operations is no longer treated as gospel. But it's an easy cheat if you don't remember anything else about a position.
In the next stage, inaccuracies on Black's part allowed White to create further imbalances, trading a Bishop for Knight in order to create potential outposts on c5 and e5, and working to entomb Black's "bad" Bishop (Black's central pawns were on the color of his remaining Bishop). As the game progressed it reached a critical point beyond which it became clear to even a dunderhead like me that the Pawn Structure (aka, Caissa-101) was demanding that I sacrifice an exchange so that Black's remaining Knight would be removed from the battlefield, eliminating the only contender for my duo of Knight's total domination of the board from the e5 and c5 outposts, perched happily in front of Black's backward pawns on e6 and c6. Then a new phase started, probing to create additional weaknesses on the Black Kingside, pulling his Pawn Structure further apart like the links in a chain being corroded by rust. I allowed Black opportunities to create counterplay by breaking out of the fixed Pawn Structure he had allowed me to create. But when he missed that, I slammed the door shut and won in quick order. In the end, along with an overwhelming Material advantage, I was about to obtain connected passed pawns on the Queenside, while Black had no countervailing threats of any consequence, so he resigned.
The Endgame
There is a great abundance of material out there, but we will settle for one example of which NM Sam Copeland wrote, "GM Eltaj Safarli delivered a great rook endgame victory in which his superior pawn structure carried the day." That said, Black did make one move that would have allowed White to restore the balance. But given the unrelenting pressure White had been under it is not surprising that fleeting chance disappeared.
Recommended Reading
Start with endgame books and King and pawn endings--it simplifies the problem space. Then look at the cases where each side has a single piece and a pawn or pawns (do this one piece at a time: N, B, R, Q). Though you should remember that Rook and pawn endgames are the most frequently encountered endgames. Then look at cases with 2 pieces per side. This will be of tremendous benefit when considering how openings (believe it or not, Mr. Ripley) contribute to endgame considerations.
GM Hans Kmoch, Pawn Power in Chess
GM Ludek Pachman, Modern Chess Strategy
GM Mauricio Flores Rios, Chess Structures: A Grandmaster Guide. Intermediate and above. 1600+ FIDE players should find value in this book. In particular I would like to note that GM Rios breaks structures down by opening types. That makes it incredibly easy to pick and choose chapters of the greatest interest if you have a specific opening repertoire.
GM Ivan Sokolov, Winning Chess Middlegames. Very advanced; at least 2000+ FIDE, perhaps higher. That said, I love this book.
There are also a wonderful series of articles on chess.com by GM Gserper, https://www.chess.com/members/view/Gserper and I can point to one specific 2012 blog that made a great impression on me https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-weak-strong-e4-pawn. There are also delightful and insightful articles to be found by writers such as IM Jeremy Silman and IM Danny Rensch...too many great pieces for me to do justice to the topic here. Seek and ye shall be rewarded--if you then put in the time to understand and apply.
What Have We Learned
Just as bone structure determines the overall, general outlines of an individual, so Pawn Structure can often define a relatively limited set of plans that flow naturally from the very complexion of the structure. And that often simplifies the task of finding a good plan. You disregard the bones at your own risk. Bend them too far and they may break.
Next blog: Analyze with KIMPLODES! L = Lines
Previous blogs:
KIMPLODES! Explosive Analysis Approach--Break it up, baby!
Analyze with KIMPLODES! K = King Safety
Analyze with IMPLODES! I = Initiative
Analyze with IMPLODES! M = Material
