Questions tagged [pawns]
Questions relating to pawns in chess
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Is pawn promotion obligatory?
According to Wikipedia, when a pawn advances to the eighth rank, the pawn is promoted as a part of the move.
However, this doesn't make it clear whether I am obliged to promote the pawn if it gets to ...
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What is the shortest number of moves from the starting position required for Black to mate White with a pawn?
Interesting puzzle that is quite hard to stop.
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Strategic challenge #1 - C.Hansen - J.Hellsten
This is the first of a series of strategic challenges. The answers are supposed to provide a move (or sequence of moves) and the right plan for the corresponding player. In this occasion we have the ...
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Why is there an option for the pawn to be promoted in any chess piece? [duplicate]
A pawn can be promoted to a queen, a knight, a rook or a bishop. My question is why would someone want their pawn to be promoted to anything other than a queen? I can understand the knight promotion ...
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World Cup: passed pawns vs extra piece
[fen "N7/P3pk1p/3p2p1/r4p2/8/4b2B/4P1KP/1R6 w - - 0 34"]
[white "Max Illingworth"]
[black "Pentala Harikrishna"]
White to move.
In this World Cup game, Black demonstrated the power of pawns and won ...
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Controlling the center versus occupying the center - What is the difference?
I would like to know if there are any general guidelines which help determine, at what moment to occupy a center square or to just control it? Are there any books or articles that anyone know of which ...
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how to break through using pawn storm
This is a game I played against my phone. I think I have an attacking chance with pawn storm. But staring at the situation for a bit, I can't find a plan to bring down black's defense.
When attacking ...
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Is this blocked situation a draw? If not, how can I win as Black?
I had a game on chess.com that ended in a draw by agreement. Is this a real draw? If not, what are my best moves as Black?
Computer analysis on chess.com suggested this continuation, “39. Qe2 Rf7 40....
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in silman's book, question about open files and global exchange
In a book from J.Silman, I found this position:
[FEN "r1qr2k1/p2bppbp/3p2p1/1p1P4/3B1P2/1B3Q1P/PPP3P1/3RR1K1 b - - 0 17"]
1... Re8 2. c3 h5 *
It deals with the rooks, white managed to semi-open ...
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Pawn Promotion to Queen
I have my rook on the 8th rank. My pawn is directly behind it. I want to move diagonal with my pawn to promote it to a queen. Can I move diagonal to reach the 8th rank and promote my pawn?
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Pawn Promotion Endgame Problem-White to move and mate in 1
So I have not been this interested in chess for a very long time indeed. This problem was posed to me by someone who has recently become experienced in chess and also participated in a chess ...
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Pawn promotion movement
If a pawn is promoted, does that count as a move? What if a rook is waiting and could capture the new queen in one move? What exactly happens when a pawn is promoted?
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How can I programmatically detect kings side / queen side pawn storm
I read from wikipedia that:
A pawn storm is a chess strategy in which several pawns are moved in
rapid succession toward the opponent's defenses. A pawn storm usually
involves adjacent pawns on ...
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Is it important to have pawns at the centre of the board?
Is there any strategic importance in having pawns at the centre of the board? Please provide a detailed explanation.
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What are the motivations behind pawn moves on a and h files?
Sometimes when there are no clearly optimal moves, a computer or a human master player would push their pawns on a and h files (the edges of the board), for no clear reasons. What would be the ...
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Putting pressure on pawns
Why is it important to develop your pieces to put "pressure" on opponent's pawn(s)? I hear this a lot from YouTube videos in which experienced chess players commenting as the game develops. It's "just"...
user4056
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Pawn confrontations: capture, push past, or leave the tension?
When your opponent moves a pawn to a position where it can be captured by one of your pawns, how should you determine whether to capture it, push past it or leave the tension on the board and make a ...
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Why is d5 the best move in this position?
What is the thought process behind playing d5 in this position?
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What's the difference between a tempo and a tempi? At the start, how many tempo/tempi is White up? On average, how many tempo/tempi is one Pawn worth?
What's the difference between a tempo and a tempi?
At the start, how many tempo/tempi is White up? Half, one, or two?
At the start of the game (before White has even made his first move), how many ...
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Are isolated passed pawns good or bad?
I frequently face situations in the late middle game (perhaps only a one minor piece and a rook or two on each side, no queens) where I can force a position (via exchanges) where both players are ...
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Is this endgame a draw (hacked - TestViking)?
In my recent online blitz video, I got the following endgame with the black pieces. With white to move, the game went as follows
[White "hacked"]
[Black "TestViking"]
[FEN "8/3k2p1/1p1P1pP1/p1p5/...
user2001
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Pawns in the center: strength or weakness?
In most openings, pawns typically end up at some of the centre squares. There is really no other way to open up the long diagonals(c1-h6,a6-f1) for the bishops. However, how desirable is this? ...
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openings for white which don't involve a central pawn push
It appears that black has more choices with regard to openings rather than white. While white would typically start with either e4 or d4, or sometimes c4, black has numerous choices for each of these ...
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I don't understand the central-control difference between 1. e4 and 1. e3
The books/articles tell me that the center is d4, d5, e4, and e5.
1. e4 controls d5, but 1. e3 controls d4.
Both control one square in the center, no?
Yet 1. e4 is apparently a vast improvement ...
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Push e and d pawns in semi open openings
I recently met the French defence as white which turned into the advanced version.
In short, I got crushed in a humiliating way, kicked while lying and spat on.
So now I am reforming and ...
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Is the pawns only variant a draw?
In the pawns-only variant of chess, each side starts with 8 pawns and a king on the usual squares, no pieces,
with other rules being the same as in regular chess, including promotion.
While general ...
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What´s the result of this endgame? Black just played f3.
[FEN "8/1KP5/8/8/5p2/8/8/6k1 b - - 0 3"]
I recently come with this position on one of my games and I would like to know the result of this endgame...
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Pawn theory / exercises
I am not a very strong positional player and I thought I could work on my pawn theory a bit. Are there common exercises or internet resources I could look into for how to play better pawn structures ...
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Why can't a piece (that isn't a pawn) capture en passant?
Why can't a piece (that isn't a pawn) capture en passant? When a pawn makes a two-square move, the en passant rule says that on the next move, any pawn that could have captured it on the single-...
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Forcing a pawn move
To create a weak square it has been suggested to me to force my opponent to make a pawn move: Weak and strong squares.
How do you do that? Is there a general situation to force a pawn move? Or are ...
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Is this an example of a backwards pawn?
e4 e5
d3
At this point, if d3 advances, say at 3. d4 it does not control d4, it is controlled by a sentry (an enemy pawn controlling d4) and is adjacent and behind a same colored pawn at e4.
Is ...
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Pawn giving checkmate
My computer checkmated me with a pawn move.
I could have taken that pawn en passant but I wasn't given a chance to do that.
Was that a fault of my computer, or is there a rule stating that a pawn ...
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What's up with the doubled pawns?
There's another question on this SE, which asks the question in reverse:
What are the reasons why I should not try to take a Knight with my Bishop if it'll result in doubled pawns?
The answers do ...
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Exact definition of a blocked pawn
What exactly is a blocked pawn? Is it a pawn with any of the opponent pieces in front or does it have to be an opponent pawn? Will the pawn be considered blocked if it can capture?
Add any other ...
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How to deal with an opposing pawn storm?
During some recent games I played, I have lost because my opponent advanced their pawns very far, attacking my pieces and forcing them to retreat. In some cases the pieces became trapped as well. ...
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Is a pawn still backward if other pieces can defend it?
What exactly is a backward pawn? Is it a pawn that can't be defended by its own pawns or if other pieces can defend it, is it still considered backwards.
As an example, in the following is e5 and d4 ...
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"Pawn Power in Chess" by Hans Kmoch vs "Pawn Structure Chess" by Andrew Soltis
I have Pawn Power in Chess by Hans Kmoch, but I can hardly understand what he is trying to convey in the book. Maybe this has to do with my level of play or maybe it has to do with the way Kmoch ...
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What is a pawn break?
I did some research (Google), but it still unclear to me on exactly what a pawn break is.
I was reading this question: The theory of pawn breaks
It is about the theory of pawn breaks, but before I ...
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The theory of pawn breaks
Does there exist a theory of pawn breaks?
Of course, there exists a theory of static pawn structure and good bishops; but I was thinking of rooks rather than bishops, and of aggressive pawns that ...
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Can a pawn put a king in check?
I am only an amateur player, but have been playing for many years. Every now and then I come across people who are adamant that a pawn cannot put a king into check.
The last person who I discussed ...
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What are key squares and critical squares?
What is the best definition of key squares in king and pawn vs king endgame theory? Please provide graphics if possible. Is there a difference between "key squares" and "critical ...
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What sense does promotion to queen make? [closed]
When a pawn finally reaches the eighth rank, then it can be promoted to rook, knight, bishop or queen. It is not hard to imagine that a soldier who has achieved a lot could be promoted to an officer. ...
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Did any authors ever try to adopt Hans Kmoch's pawn structure terminology?
In response to an earlier question, I mentioned the 1959 book Pawn Power in Chess by IM Hans Kmoch. One of the book's most well-known aspects it that it introduced a glut of less-than-useful ...
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When and why was en passant invented?
Other than castling, the only "strange" move that chess pieces can ever make is en passant. It seems a little odd to me that someone thought that such a "different" move was so important to include ...
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Why would one promote a pawn to a knight?
I know that it is makes no sense to promote a pawn to a bishop or a rook as the queen can compensate for both but a knight is something different. However, the queen is still much more powerful. So ...
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In how many cases of K, P vs. K, N, N endings can the stronger side force checkmate?
For instance, it wouldn't be possible if the Pawn was on the verge of queening. But is it always possible if the Pawn started off on its original square? Is it usually possible? Or is it only ...
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What is the importance of pawns in the endgame?
How important is it to have more pawns in the endgame phase? Does the power of the individual pawns decrease or increase as the game progresses and why?
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Pawn to Queen probabilities chart
Statistically speaking, which white and black pawns are most likely to be queened?
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Is pawns supporting pawns a good opening strategy?
For my opening strategy in most chess games I play, I usually move my pawns forward two, then one in an alternating strategy, until I have a sort of WWW shape with my pawns. That way, if anyone takes ...
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Alekhine's Defense variation, understanding white's overextended pawns, black's multiple early knight moves
I'm a casual, semi-serious chess player and have been an active player for over 10 years. In my time playing, one of the most unusual openings I have had the pleasure of playing against is known as ...
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