The power of the pawn





joaoporto
yes they are of more use, but i solely enjoy collecting another queen near the ending of my game, thats y i think they are important

yes maniac 2008 and ponar, they are very important to get queens.
What i mean is that if you get a good pawn structure during the game it can be crucial to win it, even if the pawn dont turn a queen. Dont you agree?


I think the importance of pawns is knowing when to push them and when to leave them be. I can think of many games where I lost because I moved a pawn too early or pushed it too far without being able to support it. The fact that you can't move a pawn backwards is crucial. I think the key to using pawns well is understanding the many ways that they can be usefull. In the begining of the game, they block up files and keep the knights from getting too close to your valuable peices. If it wasn't for well placed pawns, knights would wreak havoc.
Another thing that makes them so powerful is the fact that they are worth so little. This means that you can use them to push more valuable peices around because most people won't accept a trade with them.
But it all comes down to timing, because somtimes a pawn push that seems like a good idea, in fact fataly weakens a strong position.


There is a way to battle where you focus mainly on the bishops instead of pawns to control the center. It's called Hypermodern Strategy, and it looks something like this...
White is clearly demonstrating the hypermodern strategy in this position while black takes a classical approach. Notice the pawns are held back to clear a path for the bishop's diagonal movements. together the bishops attack all the squares in the center in this position.


thats what i think too.

Pawns are just pawns in the opening and middlegame, they are expendable and unimportant but in the ending they become the absolute epicenter of play. Never underestimate the power of passed pawns.
I believe that pawns are just as important in the opening and middle game as in the end-game. Wrong moves of pawns is just as bad anytime. Otherwise: i agree