The Great Pawn Hunter
Chess Tutorial

The Passed Pawn


Yes, checkmating the king is the ultimate objective in the game. There is no doubt. However, against a modern chess player, you have to be very good at tactics to do this. What do you do if your opponent is very good at defense? Well, you could try to win a piece instead. Against a modern player though, this requires a great deal of tactics as well. However, don't despair. Is there another round about way of attack? The answer "Yes, there is!"

World champion Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900), in a great way, took all the fun out of chess when he proved that he could build up a strong position, gradually by obtaining little advantages, one small step at a time. Having all the benefits of a stronger position, helps a great deal when you decide to go on the attack. The goal that modern tournament players focus on, in many of today's games, is obtaining the powerful "Passed Pawn". No, it's not a checkmate. It's not even a win of material. It is the win of a position and in the hands of a modern player, it is crushing. A sample demonstration is in order:

(1) Passed Pawn (winning)

In modern chess, the passed pawn is used as a decoy to draw the enemy king away from the center. In the diagram, the pawn on a5 is a passed pawn. The reason it is called "Passed" is because it has no enemy pawns, on neighboring files, to stop its advance.

1.a6 Kc6 2.a7 Kb7 3.Kc5! Without the black king to protect them the black pawns easily fall prey.

3...Kxa7 4.Kd6 e5 5.Ke6 f5 6.Kxe5 and the pawns are helpless. White will queen his pawns and win the game.

(2) Passed Pawn (losing)

If only the passed pawn is pushed without the white king coming to the center, then the situation is quite different. The passed pawn is without protection and can easily be captured by the black monarch.

1.a6 Kc6 2.a7 Kb7 3.a8Q+ Kxa8 4.Ke2 Kb7 5.Kd3 Kc6 So, the player with the passed pawn must bring his king into the center to invade when the enemy monarch is decoyed from his defensive post.

(3) Passed Pawn (winning)

In this example, the black pawns break through by pushing the middle pawn first.

1...b3 2.cxb3 a3! 3.bxa3 c3 The key to the black pawns success is that they are far advanced on the opponent's half of the board.

(4) Passed Pawn (losing)

In this example, the black pawns are not so lucky. If the pawn maneuver is tried here, a white pawn will queen easily.

2...b5 3.cxb5 a5 4.b6 axb4 5.b7 b3 6.b8Q+ So, the side that wants to break through must advance their pawn formation in the endgame. *

(5) Passed Pawn (Winning)

Here we have a position which is known as a "quartgrip". It consists of four pawns. The two outside pawns are advanced one rank and the two middle pawns are held back. The key to the quartgrip is to have an advanced formation. In this example, Black looks like he has the opposition. However, the white pawns are advanced onto the opponent's half of the board and white uses them to great effect.

1.Ke4 Ke7 [1...Kg5 2.c5! Kf6 3.c6 bxc6 4.dxc6 Ke6 5.b5 axb5 6.a6 ]

2.Kf5 Kd7 3.b5 Ke7 4.Kg6 Ke8 5.Kf6 Kd7 6.Kf7 Kd8 7.Ke6 Ke8 8.b6 cxb6 9.axb6 a5 10.Kxd6 a4 11.c5 a3 12.c6 a2 13.cxb7 Kf7 14.b8Q! followed by Qa7! and taking the black pawn. If a1Q then Qa7 checking the king and trading the queens off of the board and winning the game.

14...a1Q 15.Qa7+ Qxa7 16.bxa7 and queening the pawn.



Remember: Try to advance your pawns during the middle game to have an overwhelming advantage in the endgame. It is important to note that if you advance your pawns without protection, before the endgame, they can simply fall prey to your opponent's pieces. So, if you plan to use them in your strategy, protect them at all costs.

Copyright © Manus Patrick Fealy 1994-2003

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