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The Great Pawn Hunter
Chess Tutorial

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Pawn Islands

When pawns are advanced or traded, holes occur where squares, diagonals, and files, once protected or blocked by the pawns, become subject to attack. In the diagram, both pawn armies protect all the squares in the rank in front of them. However, since you have to attack in order to win, these pawns usually get moved or traded. Holes in the pawn structure result.

Some openings welcome these holes so that the pieces deploy quickly. It is a general rule that the more pawn islands¹ a player has on the board, the more difficult it is to defend the holes created. It is also more difficult to defend the diagonals and files that they no longer guard. In diagram #2, white has 3 pawn islands on rank 2. Black has only 2 pawn islands on rank 7. This means that the white pieces will be more stressed in protecting the holes caused by the extra pawn island. Black can use this to advantage by attacking them and causing white to go on the defensive. A piece anchored down to defense is an unlikely attacking piece.

In diagram #3, white has three pawn islands. The a and d file islands are isolated². Trading off pieces with the enemy, when you have more pawn islands, is not a great idea unless you have a passed pawn³.

The Square of the Pawn

In diagram #4, white must use the passed A pawn to decoy the black king while white captures the d and f pawn. Notice that in the pawn ending, the White King has been brought to the center of the board to be used as an attacking piece. If White were to trade the strong center pawn for Black's then Black could get a draw simply by moving the King to the a8 square and staying there. However, if the a pawn is used to decoy the Black King away then White can win.
1. a6 Kc7
The "square of the pawn", shown by the triangle in diagram #4, is used quite often in pawn endings. The square's outline is easily created by following the diagonal from where the pawn will be (a6), to the 8th rank (c8), and then back to the rank the pawn will be sitting on (c6). When the pawn moves to a6, Black's king must be able to step into the square a6,c6,c8,a8 in order to stop the pawn from queening.
2. a7 Kb7
3. Kxd6 Kxa7
4. Ke6 Kb7
5. Kxf6 Kc7
6. e5 Kd8
7. Kf7 !
The King controls the queening square and wins the game.


¹A pawn island is a pawn or group of pawns that are separated by files.
²An Isolated pawn is one having no protection from other pawns.
³A passed pawn is one that has no enemy pawns on nearby files.