Pawn Structure - Principles of Chess Middle Games

“Some people think that if their opponent plays a beautiful game, it's OK to lose. I don't. You have to be merciless.”

-Magnus Carlsen

Hi chessbros, Welcome to the series where we discuss the chess middle game principle. In this series, we have already completed the following topics,

Blockade & Restriction ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/blockade-restriction-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

Greek Gift sacrifice ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/greek-gift-sacrifice-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

Opposite Side Castling ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/opposite-side-castling-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

Weak Square & Outpost ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/weak-square-outpost-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

The Bishop Pair ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/the-bishop-pair-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

Prophylaxis ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/prophylaxis-principles-of-chess-middle-games-2 )

Clearance sacrifice (https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/clearance-sacrifice-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

Weak Colour Complex (https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/weak-colour-complex-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

Today we will discuss the most fundamental concept of chess which is, 'Pawn structure'. I have already discussed this concept in my earlier blog but today, I will focus mainly on making you understand this structure, and its purpose relative to the middle game. So, let's finish the introduction and get straight into the content.

Pawn structure -

In a game of chess, the pawn structure (sometimes known as the pawn skeleton) is the configuration of pawns on the chessboard. Because pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus plays a large role in determining the strategic character of the position. 

Pawns are the soul of chess, and understanding how to play in certain pawn structures is crucial to understanding the middle game. If you can imagine a position without the pieces on, just the pawns, then the situation and the plans you will have to look for will become much clearer. That is what I would like to emphasize with this blog. Know the battlefield you are fighting on! The pawns make up the battlefield, and their constellation will determine whether it will be an all-out onslaught or a manoeuvring game of minds in which tricks, bluffs and mind games will be employed instead of open warfare. 

Let us now see some of the famous structures- 

Open centre position -

In this position,
d and e phile are open for both parties. In such a position, It's principal to develop pieces as fast as possible. Secondly, it is paramount to access the open phile by rooks. Here Rooks may belong to the 7 and 2 ranks to control the pawn structure.

Advance Caro Kann -

Now Caro kann is my main repertoire. So I have a special attachment to this structure. Here, the opponent has advanced his e-pawn. Hence it is called advanced variation. 
First of all, is this open or closed, how do you determine? Here there are 8 Pawns for both parties. As a result, It is a closed position. Now to take the game forward in a closed position, we need to identify the pawn breaks. Generally, the hint is, The side where pawns are facing is the side where your break is going to be. Hence for black, it's c5. And for white, it's f4-f5.

The Open e- phile -

This is a semi-open position mostly seen in Petrov. As you can see from the markings, First to put the rooks on the e-file will gain access to the open phile. For white, it's important to keep light square bishop for long-term advantage, whereas the black need to preserve dark square bishop for long-term advantage. The ideal position for white would be Bc2, Qe3 and rook battery on e-phile.

French Defence -

This is also a semi-open position. Here play will revolve around c phile. It is very common to manoeuvre your knight on c4 and c5. Also for f6 break is critical since it opens phile for rook. Also, this break kind of helps the weak French bishop on c8 To develop.

Ruy Lopez -

If you are updated, With the recent chess. You might have seen this structure a lot in the world chess championship between GM Ding Liren and GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. As shown above, both parties are trying to take equity at the centre.  Now, f4 and f5 are marked since there is the most common knight manoeuvre in this position for accessing that square.

Sometimes black tries to play g6 fianchetto in the bishop and also defend the f5 square. Whereas, for white f4-f5, Break is also a good idea. These moves are seen rarely although.

Najdorf Sicilian -

Najdorf is mostly related to piece activity. If Black is successful in creating an active piece position then it will be great for him or else the structure will backfire. Here there are many instincts where Rook sacrifices can be seen on f3. White will try to exploit weak d5 square.

Maroczy Bind -

Mazcozy bind is the critical test of a Sicilian player. This line could be played against many variations of Sicilian. Black is controlling the centre but for that, he will have a weak bishop on e2. The goal of this setup is to stop d5 which is the most crucial break of almost all Sicilian lines. Against Marcozy Bind, Black generally plays Hedgehog structure which is shown above.

 Kings Indian -

Kings Indian is a very critical opening. You have to be very sharp when playing these lines. Most of the time it comes to whether or not black can create a king-side attack or not. As I said this is a closed position and how will we find a break? Where are the pawns looking?
Yes, for black it's f5, and for white, it's c5.  If you want to see how critical Kings Indian get I highly recommend you have a look at this blog where Hikaru showed his masterclass in Kings Indian. 

( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/i-dare-you-to-touch-my-queen )

Benoni  -

The idea in Benoni is that the structure is very superior for the end game due to the majority of pawns on the queenside. So our idea is to trade pieces and go to the end game as soon as possible. Whereas the white idea is to attack our weak d6 pawn. Here there is two common knight manoeuvre.

Karlsbad -

The idea in the Karlsbad structure is to create a minority attack and create a weakness on c6. Now what is a minority attack I will make a blog on it in the coming week. For now, here is a visual representation of the idea and how to create a weakness.

As you have seen above, These are the most common structure we see in most of our games. Now there are positions with IQP ( Isolated Queens pawns ). Here you have to develop behind the pawn and help it to push further. Most of the positions, which I have not involved here have pretty much straightforward ideas. 
I hope you love this short blog. Do share your views in the comment section. For now, I will take your leave.
Till then,
Let us all grow at chess together.

...The End...