Combating Pawn Storms

I always struggle with opponents' pawn storms and fall victim to incorrect defense moves. Post game analyses help but I think I need something more. Can someone please recommend videos/articles/advice, etc? Thank you.

You need to post an example so others know what you're talking about.

This is not the psychic chess hotline,

As @IMBacon suggests, a specific answer to your question would require an example. In general, however, you should remember the basic positional principle that your opponent's action on the wing is best answered by countering in the center. 

Thanks  MarkyBoy and OldPatzerMike. Being an Old Patzer myself who has just recently returned to the game, I just thought there may be some principles or general theory out there. Thanks again guys.

• When facing a pawn storm, avoid moving pawns in front of your king. They tend to act as levers that can be used to pry open lines to your king.

• When being attacked on the wing, counter attack in the center. If you can make your threats more serious than your opponent's threats, then they will be too busy defending to proceed with their attack.

Thanks IMBacon. I've never uploaded a game but I will try to do so now so I can at least learn to do this. I appreciate your advice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7Kij7gNRUo

A youtube video from a game between Spassky vs. Petrosian from there 1966 world championship match.  It deals with what youre asking about,

Thanks again IMBacon.

Glad to help, and good luck.

There's no recipe against pawn storms because they can be correct or at least playable.

What you may consider are the criteria which make a pawn storm correct or playable. For instance, can the pawns be blocked (and submitted to attack), can the pawns be exchanged (and submitted to attack), are the pawns leaving weak squares (or lines) which can be used by the rival to develope faster threats?

What you should also keep in mind is that advancing several pawns may either seek to restrict the space for the rival's material, or to open lines for the own pieces (either by sacrificing the own pawns or by exchanging the rival's pawns which are blocking the lines for the own pieces).

But, generally, it's a double-edge strategy, because the advancing pawns may lose control over critical squares (which can be used by the rival to develope threats) and, more important, most pawn storms are not tempo-free, meaning the rival may develop threats of his own using those tempos.

As a final piece of advice, several pawn storms (aimed to restrict the rival's mobility, space or just to open lines) are valid because the opponent played passively or lacking a plan, leaving free-hands to develop threats because there's nothing to defend against.

Thank you sir for the time you put into this helpful and salient advice. I will be going over it a few times.

Nicator pretty much covered the theory.  I would just add that sac pieces as well as pawns against the advancing pawns.Good luck.  Lots of good advice on here.

I talked about basic concepts when dealing with pawn storms. The theory is much more complicated, as it involves getting familiarized with pieces and pawns' coordination.

Thing is, back in the late XIX Century it was believed that getting more space by a pawn push, was favorable in just about any case. Then, in the 1920s, it was proved that such isn't the case in every single scenario.

As of today, it's accepted that getting more space (by advancing one or several pawns) is favorable if it disrupts or breaks the opponent's coordination, or facilitates the own coordination by obtaining accessible targets on the opponent's camp. Then again these are concepts, guidelines, and every board situation must be weighed by its own relationships.

I usually tend to ignore them tbh. Pawn storms guarantee one thing, the opponent cannot develop their pieces. So you want to try to exploit that in my experience. There are pawn storms that can be legitimate lines, but at the level we're talking here, they won't be. They'll be lazy moves without any real thought behind them which means they will, at some point, definitely leave a hole in their defence which you can then exploit with your developed pieces. Usually the hole is an unprotected king you can check with your Bishop. You have to realise the level of your opponent more than anything else. Here's another one for free (because the two laziest strategies I see are pawn storms and queenside) when the opponent goes to castle on the queenside, 9 times out of 10 they don't know why they're doing it other than to force a pawn storm. So when you see them setting it up, advance a couple of pawns on their queenside, they will blindly castle and you can then win the race. I tend to play stonewall, but I don't understand all the theory, I think I understand enough to play it and feel confident, but again a lot of the time I'll blindly set up the stonewall and blunder myself.

@TheCalculatorKid: Is not a matter of ignoring them but to assess the type and amount of activity deriving from a pawn push (or storm), same as the type and amount we get (or are denied) because of, and then to compare them both.

Now, it's true that most amateurs don't pay attention to cons (in this case: The type and amount of activity the opponent gets because of the pawn storm –or push– initiated), but that doesn't imply they're wrong in every single case. And this is because there are players tagged as amateurs because their results are lowered by failures in tactics, thus overshadowing their understanding of a sound strategy and positional play.

The first point is that you can never ignore any move your opponent makes.  Second, a player can play (objectively) a bad move , but it could turn out to be winning for him, if you do not refute it.  Last, every move in chess must be judged.  As NICATOR mentioned,   every idea has pros and cons.  I cannot tell you   how many times my opponent played a bad idea , but I lost because I did not refute it.  Also sometimes something looks bad, but it is really good, the irony of chess.  

@IMBacon

"You need to post an example so others know what you're talking about.

This is not the psychic chess hotline,"

Could be taken as a bit harsh, but it made me laugh. Funniest post I have seen on this forum.

I can tell @1954MarkySparky is sincere but it almost seems like a troll post at first because it is so general, such as, "I find myself being checkmated by my opponent in about half my games, what should I do?"

More seriously, as others have said, pawn storms can be hard to manage, but instead of panicking, stay calm and remember that they are even more difficult to execute. Against proper defense and counter attacks it takes a skilled player because all of their pieces have to work together on the attack. Also, when faced with the beginning of a pawn storm I see a few common errors: 

1. Ignoring it early when it is easier to deal with.

2. Focusing only on defending. Advancing pawns leave an exposed area behind them, so look for opportunities to exploit that weakness with a counter attack.  Your opponent can't keep attacking you if they are defending. 

3. Failing to see pawn forks coming.

4. It worked because your pieces and pawns were not well placed to begin with. 

I think some players don't post positions because they fear that their moves will be ridiculed by idiots. Don't worry about that. What matters isn't to point out someone's mistake and say "don't do that!" What matters is that there are people here who can help you understand how a better player thinks through assessing key positions, identifies alternatives, and selects a good move. 

Firstly, I'm no troll - just a bona-fide patzer of the first degree. Secondly, I too found IMBacon's comments really funny and took no offence. As it was, he subsequently offered good advice. I'm also surprised and grateful for EVERYONE'S helpful comments.

With all the negative issues re. players using search engines, not resigning a lost game, etc, I am very heartened by the wonderful support that so many of the Chess.com community freely and kindly offer.

The most thematic way to counter a Pawn-storm on the flank is to open the center and counter-attack through it.

You can only claim it's overdone after you've stuck a fork in it.

Or a skewer, I guess.