Preschool Pawns

This article is by WIM Alexey Root

Do you remember the years just before you started kindergarten, when you were three- or four-years old? Some children that age go to preschool. In preschool, there may be eight kids and just one teacher. That teacher may ask her eight preschoolers to:

1) Hold hands to be safest
2) Stay with the group
3) Act their ages, as they can't go back to being babies

There are similar rules for your eight pawns. In this article, we will learn about how pawns-holding-hands, in what are called "pawn chains", is often a great structure. We will also learn that same-color pawns on adjacent files are usually better off than pawns who have no friendly pawns nearby. Adjacent means "next to"; the e-file is adjacent to the d- and f-files. Finally we will learn that, because a pawn only moves and captures on ranks ahead of it, there is no going back to previous ranks .

Pawn chains are made up of two or more same-colored pawns linked diagonally. Because pawns capture diagonally forward, the pawn at the base of the chain protects the pawn that is one rank ahead and on the adjacent file. The base, however, has no pawn protection. The head of the pawn chain is the pawn which is most advanced. Lucikly, it has the support of the pawn behind it in the chain. The head is stronger than the base. Attack the base pawn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pawn chains in the diagram are from an opening called the French Defence. Can you name where the pawns are in white's pawn chain? The head is on e5, and the base is on d4. Can you name where the pawns are in black's pawn chain? The base is on f7, the middle pawn in the chain is on e6, and the head is on d5. Here you see happy pawns holding hands for safety. And the happiest ones are the heads, because they have a friend behind them supporting them. That makes the heads feel the safest.

In addition to preschoolers holding hands to be safe, they also want to stay with the group. Being off by yourself as a preschooler makes you vulnerable, because you are not big enough to deal with fast-moving cars or big dogs. A pawn by itself, with no pawns of the same color on adjacent files, is an isolated pawn. It is also a very small island of just one pawn. Pawn islands can be bigger. A pawn island of any size contains pawns of the same color on adjacent files. Can you count the pawn islands for white and for black in the next diagram?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the diagram, white has two islands. The white pawns on the a- and b-files form one island, and the white pawns on the g- and h-files are a second island. Black has four islands, since black has pawns on the a-, d-, f-, and h-files. It is usually better to have fewer, big islands than lots of one-pawn, isolated islands. Just like a preschooler is better off with a few friends than off on his or her own.

The last thing to remember about preschoolers and pawns is that they cannot grow backwards. A preschooler will never be a baby again. A pawn can never move backward. So you want to be sure to place each of your pawns carefully...

Some great ideas for placing your pawns have already been discussed. Making a pawn chain is great, especially for the head! And, if you want to launch an attack against a pawn chain, attack at the base. Avoid isolated pawns. Instead, keep your pawns in big islands where (at a moment's notice) they may form a pawn chain for safety.