Pawn structure


In a game of chess, the pawn structure is the configuration of pawns on the chessboard. Because pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus plays a large role in determining the strategic character of the position.

General observations

Weaknesses in the pawn structure, such as isolated, doubled, or backward pawns and, once created, are usually permanent. Care must therefore be taken to avoid them. In the absence of these structural weaknesses, it is not possible to assess a pawn formation as good or bad—much depends on the position of the pieces. The pawn formation, however, does determine the overall strategies of the players to a large extent, even if arising from unrelated openings. Pawn formations symmetrical about a vertical line may appear similar, but they tend to have entirely different characteristics because of the propensity of the kings to castle on the.
Pawn structures often transpose into one another, such as the isolani into the hanging pawns, and vice versa. Such transpositions must be considered carefully and often mark shifts in game strategy.

The major pawn formations

In his 1995 book Pawn Structure Chess, Andrew Soltis classified the major pawn formations into 17 categories. In 2015, the book Chess Structures, by Mauricio Flores Rios, further studied the subject, subdividing pawn structures into the 28 most important. For a formation to fall into a particular category, it need not have a pawn position identical to the corresponding diagram, but only close enough that the character of the game and the major themes are unchanged. It is typically the whose position influences the nature of the game the most.
Structures with mutually attacking pawns are said to have tension. They are ordinarily unstable and tend to transpose into a stable formation with a pawn or exchange. Play often revolves around making the transposition happen under favorable circumstances. For instance, in the Queen's Gambit Declined, Black waits until White the to make the d5xc4 capture, transposing to the Slav formation.

Caro formation

Openings: Primary: Caro–Kann. Other: French, Scandinavian, Trompowsky, Alekhine's.
Character: Slow-paced game.
Themes for White: Outpost on e5, kingside advantage, d4–d5, possibility of in the endgame.
Themes for Black: Weakness of the d4-pawn, c6–c5 and e6–e5 breaks. The latter break is usually preferable, but harder for Black to achieve.

Slav formation

Openings: Primary: Queen's Gambit. Other: Catalan, Nimzo-Indian, Colle System, London System, and Trompowsky.
Character: Slow-paced game.
Themes for White: Pressure on the c-file, weakness of Black's c-pawn, the d4–d5 break.
Themes for Black: e6–e5 and c6–c5 breaks.

Sicilian – Scheveningen

Openings: Primary: Sicilian, Sicilian Scheveningen, and several other Sicilian variations. Other: King's English.
Character: Complex, dynamic, sharp middlegame.
Themes for White: Pressure on the d-file, space advantage, e4–e5 break, f2–f4–f5 push, g2–g4–g5 blitz.
Themes for Black: Pressure on the c-file, on the queenside, pressure on White's pawn on e4 or e5, d6–d5 break, e6–e5 transposing into the Boleslavsky hole.
It used to be considered unwise for White to exchange a piece on c6 allowing the recapture bxc6, because the phalanx of Black's center pawns was thought to become very strong; however modern chess engines have shown ways for White to maintain a slight advantage even with Black's pawn on c6.

Sicilian – Dragon

Openings: Primary: Sicilian Dragon. Other: Pirc, King's English.
Character: Either a razor sharp middlegame with opposite side castling or a moderately sharp game with same side castling. The Sicilian Dragon requires a high level of opening memorization to play properly. This is especially true when it comes to the Yugoslav Attack in which White plays the moves Be3, f3, Qd2 and 0-0-0. Other variations include the following: the Classical Dragon, where White plays Be2 and 0-0; the Tal Attack, defined by Bc4 and 0-0; and the Fianchetto Defense, where White plays g3, Bg2 and 0-0. These less common variations lead to less tactical positions, with a potentially technical endgame.
Themes for White: Outpost on d5, kingside attack, weakness of Black's queenside pawn in the endgame.
Themes for Black: Pressure on the long diagonal, queenside counterplay, exploiting White's often overextended kingside pawns in the endgame, d6–d5 break.
Opening Lines: The most common variation of the Sicilian Dragon is the Yugoslav Attack. 1. e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 '6... Bg7 7. Qd2 0-0 8. f3 8... Nc6 9. 0-0-0 9... d5'.

Boleslavsky hole

Openings: Primary: Sicilian Najdorf Variation|Najdorf], Classical, Sveshnikov, Kalashnikov. Other: Sicilian Prins, Moscow, O'Kelly, King's Indian, King's English, Pirc, Philidor, Ruy Lopez, Italian.
Character: Open, dynamic game.
Themes for White: taking control of the d5, exploiting the backward d6-pawn, f2–f4 break.
Themes for Black: d6–d5 break, queenside minority attack, the c4-square.
It is a paradoxical idea that Black can strive for equality by voluntarily creating a hole on d5. The entire game revolves around control of the d5-square. Black must play very carefully or White will place a knight on d5 and obtain a commanding positional advantage. Black almost always equalizes, and might even obtain a slight edge, if the d6–d5 break can be made. Black has two options for their : on e6 and on b7. Unusually for an open formation, bishops become inferior to knights because of the overarching importance of d5: White will often exchange Bg5xf6, and Black usually prefers to give up their queen's bishop rather than a knight in exchange for a white knight if it gets to d5. This formation can be reached from the d5-chain formation after Black gets the c7–c6 break and exchanges the c-pawn for White's d-pawn.
When White castles queenside, Black often delays castling because their king is quite safe in the.

Maróczy Bind

Openings: Primary: Sicilian, King's Indian Defence. Other: Symmetrical English, King's English, Queen's Indian Defence, Nimzo-Indian Defence.
Character: Semi-open game.
Themes for White: Nd4–c2–e3, fianchettoing one or both bishops, the Maróczy hop, kingside attack, c4–c5 and e4–e5 breaks.
Themes for Black: b7–b5 break, f7–f5 break, d6–d5 break.
The [|Maróczy bind], named after Géza Maróczy, has a fearsome reputation. Chess masters once believed that allowing the bind was a mistake as Black always gave White a significant advantage. Indeed, if Black does not quickly make a, their will, with minor pieces lacking any squares to move to and possibly becoming cornered or pressed into a weak defense. Conversely, the formation takes time to set up and limits the activity of White's light-squared bishop, which can buy Black some breathing room to accomplish this break.

Hedgehog

Openings: Primary: Symmetrical English, Sicilian. Other: King's English, King's Indian Defence, Queen's Indian Defense, Nimzo-Indian Defence, Nimzo-Larsen Attack.
Character: Closed, Semi-open game.
The Hedgehog is a formation similar to the Maróczy bind, and shares the strategic ideas with that formation. Typically, the Maróczy bind would transpose into the Hedgehog formation.

Rauzer formation

Openings: Primary: King's Indian, Old Indian, Italian Game. Sicilian Kramnik. The notation in the rest of this section refers to the version with the colors reversed.
Character: Semi-open game.
Themes for White: d6 weakness, c4–c5 push, a3–f8 diagonal, queenside pawn storm.
Themes for Black: d4 weakness, a1–h8 diagonal, f4-square, kingside attack, trading pieces for a superior endgame.
The Rauzer formation is named after Rauzer who introduced it in the Ruy Lopez. It can also rarely occur in the Ruy Lopez with colors reversed.
It is considered to give Black excellent chances because d6 is much less of a hole than White's d4. If the black king's bishop is fianchettoed it is common to see it undeveloped to f8 to control the vital c5- and d6-squares, or remove White's dark-squared bishop, the guardian of the hole.
The Rauzer formation is often misjudged by beginners. In the position on the left, White appears to have a development lead while Black's position appears to be riddled with holes. In reality, it is Black who stands clearly better, because White has no real way to improve their position while Black can improve by exploiting the d4-square.

Boleslavsky Wall

Openings: Primary: King's Indian. Other: English, Pirc, Ruy Lopez, Philidor, Italian Game.
Character: Semi-open game, slow buildup.
Occurs after exchange of pawns on d4. Name given by Hans Kmoch.
Themes for White: exploitation of d6 weakness, e4–e5 and c4–c5 breaks, minority attack with b2–b4–b5.
Themes for Black: attacking the e4- and c4-pawns, d6–d5 and f7–f5 breaks, queenside play with a7–a5–a4.
The wall is yet another structure that leaves Black with a d-pawn weakness, but prevents White from taking control of the center and gives Black active piece play and an opportunity to play on either side of the board.

[|d5-chain]

Openings: Primary: King's Indian, Ruy Lopez, Pirc. Other: Benoni, Philidor, Trompowsky, English, Italian Game, Four Knights Game.
Character: Closed game with opposite side activity.
Themes for White: Massive queenside space advantage, c2–c4–c5 break, prophylaxis with g2–g4, f2–f4 break.
Themes for Black: kingside attack, f7–f5 break, g7–g5–g4 break, c7–c6 break, prophylaxis with c6–c5 or c7–c5 transposing to a full Benoni formation.
The chain arises from a variety of openings but most commonly in the heavily analyzed King's Indian Classical variation. The theme is a race for a breakthrough on opposite flanks – Black must try to whip up a kingside attack before White's penetrate with devastating effect on the c-file. The position was thought to strongly favor White until a seminal game where Black introduced the maneuver Rf8–f7, Bg7–f8, Rf7–g7. When the chain arises in the Ruy Lopez, play is much slower with tempo being of little value and featuring piece maneuvering by both sides, Black focusing on the c7–c6 break and White often trying to play on the kingside with the f2–f4 break. This may transpose into the Boleslavsky hole formation or the Maróczy Bind after Black plays the c7–c6 break and exchanges the c-pawn for White's d-pawn.

e5-chain

Openings: Primary: French. Other: Nimzowitsch, Trompowsky, Caro–Kann, Bogo-Indian, London System, Colle System, Sicilian, Nimzo–Larsen Attack, King's English.
Character: Closed/semi-open but sharp game.
Themes for White: kingside mating attack, f2–f4–f5 break.
Themes for Black: Exchanging the hemmed-in queen's bishop, c7–c5 and f7–f6 breaks.
Due to White's kingside space advantage and development advantage, Black must generate counterplay or be mated. Novices often lose to the sparkling Greek gift sacrifice. Attacking the head of the pawn chain with f7–f6 is seen as frequently as attacking its base, because it is harder for White to defend the head of the chain than in the d5-chain. In response to exf6, Black accepts a backward e6-pawn in exchange for freeing their position and the possibility of a further e6–e5 break. If White exchanges with d4xc5 it is called the Wedge formation. White gets an outpost on d4 and the possibility of exploiting the dark squares while Black gets an overextended e5-pawn to work on.

Modern Benoni formation

Openings: Primary: Modern Benoni, King's Indian Defence, Ruy Lopez. Other: Italian Game, Modern Defence, Queen's Indian Defence, Trompowsky, Ruy Lopez, Italian Game, Réti Opening, King's Indian Attack, Sicilian Defence.
Character: Semi-open game.
Themes for White: Central pawn majority, e4–e5 break. Weak d6 pawn.
Themes for Black: Queenside pawn majority. e5 control. b7–b5, normally prepared by playing a7–a6 to support the advance. The b7–b6 is also possible, prior to b5, to prevent White from playing a2–a4–a5 which would stop b7–b5 since it would be able to capture en passant. c5–c4, sometimes as a sacrifice of a pawn, to clear the c5-square for a piece. Sometimes, Black can choose to play with a fianchetto of the dark square bishop by playing g7–g6 and Bg7. This bishop would control key squares like e5, and can be exchanged on c3 for a knight.

Giuoco Piano – Isolani formation

Openings: Primary: Giuoco Piano. Other: French, Ruy Lopez, Petrov, King's English, French, Alapin Variation|Sicilian Alapin], Queen's Gambit Accepted.
Character: Open game.
Themes for White: Developing active piece play or piece activity on one or both of the open files adjacent to the isolated queen pawn. Maintaining control over the weak square in front of the isolated queen pawn as it advances to prevent enemy blockade with the ultimate threat and goal of promotion.
Themes for Black: Blockading the isolani, trading pieces for a favorable endgame.

Queen's Gambit – Isolani formation

Openings: Primary: Queen's Gambit, Nimzo-Indian. Other: French, Sicilian Alapin, Symmetrical English, Caro–Kann, Queen's Gambit, Nimzo-Indian.
Character:.
Themes for White: d4–d5 break, sacrifice of the isolani, outpost on e5, kingside attack.
Themes for Black: Blockading the isolani, trading pieces for a favorable endgame.
The isolani leads to lively play revolving around the d5-square. If Black can clamp down on the pawn, their positional strengths and threat of exchanges give them the advantage. If not, the threat of the d4–d5 break is ever-present, and the isolani can sometimes be sacrificed to unleash the potential of White's pieces, enabling White to whip up a whirlwind attack. Garry Kasparov is famous for the speculative d4–d5 sacrifice.

Hanging pawns

Openings: Primary: Queen's Gambit Declined, Nimzo-Indian. Other: Queen's Indian Defense, Symmetrical English, Sicilian.
Character: Open game.
Themes for White: Line opening advance in the center, kingside attack.
Themes for Black: Forcing a pawn advance and blockading the pair, conversion to isolani.
The term is used almost exclusively for pawns on the c- and d-files, and usually for two pawns on the same . They can be a strength, a weakness or neutral, depending on the position. They are typically an attacking rather than a defensive asset. Like the isolani, the are a structural weakness but with them usually comes increased piece activity to compensate. The play revolves around Black trying to force one of the pawns to advance. If Black can establish a permanent blockade the game is positionally won. On the other hand, White aims to keep the pawns hanging, trying to generate a kingside attack leveraging off of their superior center control. Other themes for White include tactical possibilities and line opening breaks in the center.

Carlsbad formation

Openings: Primary: Queen's Gambit Declined. Other: Caro–Kann, Colle System, London System.
Character: Semi-open game.
Themes for White: Minority attack on the queenside. e3–e4 break, sometimes prepared with f2–f3. e5 outpost, sometimes supported with f2–f4.
Themes for Black: e4 outpost, kingside attack.

Panov formation

Openings: Primary: Queen's Gambit Declined, Caro–Kann. Other: Alekhine Defense, QGD Tarrasch Defense, Symmetrical English.
Character: Semi-open, dynamic game.
Themes for White: Exploiting the dark squares, d6 outpost; queenside majority in the endgame, with an advanced pawn.
Themes for Black: e4 outpost, kingside attack, White's overextended pawn, e6–e5 and b7–b6 breaks.

Stonewall formation

Openings: Primary: Dutch Defense, Stonewall Attack. Other: Colle System, Bird's Opening.
Character: Closed game, uncomplicated strategy.
Themes: Exchanging the bad bishop, e4/e5 outposts, breaks on the c- and g-files.
Players must carefully consider how to recapture on the e4/e5-square, since it alters the symmetric pawn formation and creates strategic subtleties.

Botvinnik system

Openings: Primary: English, Dutch, King's Indian Attack. Other: Sicilian, Vienna Game, Ruy Lopez, Bishop's Opening.
Character: Closed game, uncomplicated strategy.
Themes: Exchanging the bad bishop, d4/d5 outposts, breaks on the b- and f-files.
This structure appears in one of Botvinnik's treatments of the English. Players must carefully consider how to recapture on the d4/d5-square, since it alters the symmetric pawn formation and creates strategic subtleties. Adding the typical White fianchetto of the king's bishop to this structure provides significant pressure along the long diagonal, and usually prepares the f2–f4–f5 break.

Closed Sicilian formation

Openings: Primary: Closed Sicilian, Closed English.
Character: Closed, complicated position.
Themes for White: kingside pawn storm, c2–c3 and d3–d4 break.
Themes for Black: queenside pawn storm, a1–h8 diagonal.