The power of the pawn

TheMoonwalker, i agree with you: "Wrong moves of pawns is just as bad anytime".

so everyone agrees they are very much needed ?

i think they are very much needed.

Yes, when teaching some of my friends who play very rarely a little bit about strategy, one of the first mistakes I often correct is their lack of care about pawns - they seem very insignificant. To correct this I often say "Think of them as potential queens" and this usually helps. But they are truly much more than that. They define space, they are barriers, they limit the activities of other pieces, and very often they can be used to instigate action, by pushing them at the proper moments to force trades, trap, or even sac to open up lines for other pieces. Of course, in the endgame understanding the pawn is crucial, perhaps second only to knowing the importance of King activity. So knowing about pawns is probably very often differentiates between beginners, novices, intermediate players, learning players, experts, masters, etc. Just my $.02

Very clarifying text, WanderingWinder.

Take a look at this game:

were decisive or not the position of white pawns in the game i posted?

joaoporto wrote: were decisive or not the position of white pawns in the game i posted?

---

 Yeah, I think so. I mean obviously black made some pretty sizable errors there, but the point is that with white's pawns so effectively controlling so much of the board, there weren't a lot of options for black, so white could take time to deploy his forces at will. A very illustrative game

I value the pawns as much as any other pieces if not more.  A lot of people have already made lots of good points about the pawns and properly utilizing these pieces can make a hugh difference in a game.  Although my all time favorite things is winning a game with a simple move a pawn.  Your lone solider striking the killing blow and Checkmate.  For example heres a game a played back in May and won with my pawn 

 

pawns are the most unrespected pieces on the board. to some they are not even considered pieces. However if we look back on the great games in history, who can count how many times a tru piece was saved because it had a pawn at its flank. Pawns are the un respected lifesavers in nearly anygame. Any player whodoes not respect the power of the pawns is a fool.

joaoporto wrote:

I begin to think that we must give really importance to our pawn structure during the game. A pawn is just a pawn but it could also become a queen. I have lost severall games because i didnt pay to many attention to the pawns. What do you think about the power of pawns in chess? Are they really the soul of chess?

 

 

---

Whenever I play someone who's about the same rating as me, the victory comes down to whoever wins 1 pawn.  After that it's just a matter of delaying the inevitable loss.

i think most of us give real importance to the pawns, something that i took much time to learn, and i still do many mistakes because im looking to the other pieces...

"To me, pawns are everything - an advantage of one pawn is easily a winning advantage if you continue through the game trading pieces and not losing exchanges. If you win a pawn, and then proceed to trade off everything, your odds of queenings as compared to your opponents are much higher, especially if you know what you're doing ;)"

 

It's true, but why just passivley trade down to the endgame when you could use your pawn advantage to beat your opponent into submission right away?!  Let those little guys throw their weight around and your opponents options will become very limited.

I don't like to trade unless it leaves me in a better position than where I started.  I figure if an oppnent wants to trade, let him spend a move first, not me.  Then I can decide if I want to accept the trade or just ignore it and attack somwhere else.

Dear all

Really the discussion on pawns alone is a bit misleading. They do have a dynamic all of their own because they are a distinct piece and move in a particular way. As long as they are on the board they are important. This means in every phase of the game including the opening. Why, because with the exception of openings such as the white N's coming out , it's always pawns that move first. They are important because they control squares. They are also important when they are exchanged if they give up control of squares or open lines. Dont forget Fools Mate 1.e4-e6 2.d4-f5 3.Qh4# Now this isn't possible unless the pawns have moved allowing this. Most beginers have fallen for this. Pawns can also give mate even in the early middle game or support a mate. They can be attacking pieces in their own right. In conjunction with pieces they can be a deadly combination. It's important to see the pawns as integral to the game, part of a whole. Take gambit lines for example. They sacrifice themselves in order to allow pieces to come into an attack. In essence this debate is a bit pointless as the player who ignores the power of the pawns is lost.

Sorry the moves for fools mate arn't right 1.e4-g5 2.d4-f5 3.Qh4# does it. In the other line the K can go to e7.

Thanks bruciebaby.

Another example of a victory by the pawn(with the other pieces too:) :

these are all good examples of the power of the pawn, i am enjoying them very much

Thanks maniac 2008.

No need to say anything I know.  But I think pawns change the shape of the board.  Sure a rook on an open file can block a kings escape, but a pawn formation can fully cut off portions of the board and every piece in it (your own and your opponents so becareful where you place your pawns) this changing the shape/size of the board is semi permanent as no pawn moves are taken back. 

I personally love the way that a closed pawn position tightens and tightens until there is an explosion of captures and the board goes from being closed to wide open.  Pawn positions are like a time bomb in this way. 

 More over, it is interesting that you can build the most impressive pawn fortress and lose to zugzwang (sp?) you build to the pinnacle of positional perfection and lose it all because of a forced move of a pawn that was holding the entire fortress together.

 

I also like the way that pawns have positional power but time weakness.  It is possible to transform the pawns positional power though to an advantage in time through sacrificing it.  All of this just makes me think of all the way that pawns transform.

1. Transform the board through positional play
2. Transform from piece/postional advantage to a time advantage
3. transform into other pieces

I'm sure I could add one or two more but have suddenly had a mental blank