5 rules of the pawn

I am trying to come up with 5 general rules for the pawn.

1. Do not leave it by itself, always support your pawns with another pawn or piece

2. As long as you can support the pawn make it passed when given the chance, you do not have to exchange pawns when given the chance

3. Do not forget the power of the pawn to dislodge and trap pieces, and even checkmate

4.Use your pawns to support your minor pieces on good Squares

5. When the pawn is passed and supported keep on pushing it!

6. Pawns are Queens in the making, and as such, appreciate a little musical theatre.

yeah I wasnt sure how to tie in promotion so I tried to stress the passed pawn

7. Once you move a pawn forward it can never defend the squares it previously defened again, so make sure you really want to move it.

Great idea, good number 7

I say that because someone told me that once in a game where my pawn structure was horrible and I pushed some forwards at bad times.

It's generally better to capture towards the center.

Pawns are most flexible and coordinated in terms of square control when they're abreast.

Passed pawns become more valuable each time they safely advance closer to queening.

If you cannot maintain a pawn in the center it's often a good idea to form a plan around pushing a pawn into the center.

Undermine a pawn chain by attacking its base.

yeah great point

I really like the first and last one, although the last one is more about attacking pawns

Here's some that I arrived on through various resources, and a little through personal observation:

• Doubled pawns aren't necessarily a weakness, unless they are isolated and not part of a structure, and even then, it covers only 90% of the possibilities - GM Dzindzichashvili
• Fewer pawn islands are better than many, indicating unified structure versus isolation.
• For every backward pawn or isolated pawn is a potential outpost on the square immediately in front, and for every weak pawn in general, a potential target.
• Avoid capturing or exchanging pawns if it means strengthening your opponent's structure, and/or helping activate his/her pieces. 
• Do trade pawns if it means either creating weak pawns, restricts piece mobility, or loses tempo for your opponent, after a candidate line concludes.
• In general, attack where your pawn structure gives you the space to coordinate pieces, but:
• Silman's Pawn Pointing theory states that attacking in the direction of your pawn chain only applies in closed or semi-closed positions, whereas an open center generally calls for more piece play.
• If you've got a passed pawn, control the square in front, support the pawn itself from the back, keep on trucking.
• Pawn structures influence the activity and value of minor pieces.

Hate to call them rules, just guidelines and general observations.

those are good ones

well rules in chess are meant to be broken, but when learning people should stick to them until their understanding grows.

15 Rules for the Endgame by GM Fine (from Basic Chess Endings)

Note that 12 of the rules are about pawns or involve pawns in some way

1.  Doubled, isolated and blockaded pawns are weak: Avoid them!

2.  Passed pawns should be advanced as quickly as possible.

3.  If you are one or two pawns ahead, exchange pieces but not pawns.

4.  If you are one or two pawns behind exchange pawns but not pieces.

5.  If you have an advantage do not leave all pawns on one side.

6.  If you are one pawn ahead, in 99 cases out of 100 the game is drawn if there        are pawns on only one side of the board.

7.  The easiest endings to win are pure pawn endings.

7.  The easiest endings to win are pure pawn endings.

8.  The easiest endings to draw are those with Bishops of the opposite color.

9.  The King is a strong piece: Use it!

10. Do not place your pawns on the same color as your Bishop.

11. Bishops are better than Knights in all except blocked pawn positions.

12. Two Bishops vs B+N constitute a tangible advantage

13. Passed pawns should be blockaded by the King; the only piece which is not     harmed by watching a pawn is the Knight.

14. A rook on the seventh rank is sufficient compensation for a pawn.

15. Rooks belong behind passed pawns.

very helpful!

my focus is more leading up to the endgame

"Never lose a pawn never lose a game"  - ?

haha that is not so realistic

In the End Game if the Pawn and Bishop are joined together diagonally they are a strong bond and your opponent will not be eager to trade a Q or R for it. The Bishop that is..... to break the bond.

:

Hey i never made that quote up, not mine! Who? Give me a moment......

I am sorry but there are already alot of good rules regarding pawn play so we do not have to come up with our own.  Go read any positional book from Reassess Your Chess to My System to the million other postional books.  There is no need to often come up with "incorrect" philosphies when rather correct ones are given to us by past and current strong players.  

My point is to summarize the genral rules into an easy list for newer players,

there are also a lot of good books on openings but people still discuss those.

I don't think a 1700 rated player (maybe your rating is higher over the board) should be giving advice on pawn play as they often do you understand pawn play very well.  I am rated over 2000 otb and I do not understand pawn play very well and I try not to give advice on it.  

I am not trying to give advice to 200 rated player though, I am giving advice to those just learning the game. In which case they do not need to understand everything. I believe every player should give advice, and if their advice is not good then they will be told so and learn from it. I do not see this collection of pawn guidlines as hurting anyones chess, and maybe it will help some poepl. I know some of these that people have suggested I can work to incorparate further into my games