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The Great Pawn Hunter
Chess Tutorial

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Pieces in Motion
The Isolated Queen Pawn

Many beginning and intermediate players are scared of having weaknesses. So, they learn a few openings and hope for a middlegame that is free from defects. The sad news is "modern chess is full of defects. The trick is to make these defects playable." In more chessic terms, we have to trade some positional weaknesses for dynamic attacking potential.

Today, I have chosen to demonstrate a game that has a pawn structure weakness, a weak central pawn. However, by centralizing his pieces White obtains a dynamic position full of attacking potential. I am hoping that if you see a real game played out by grandmasters, instead of being scared and going on the defense, you might look to make your pieces active and counter balance the weakness in your camp.

In the diagram, the (d4) pawn is weak because it has no other pawns on neighboring files. However, during the middlegame, the pawn can be used to control central squares during an attack or used as a battering ram for central expansion. The general rule of thumb against the player with the weak pawn is to:
1) restrict the pawn from advancing by attacking the d5 square with pieces
2) blockade the pawn by moving a piece onto the d5 square
3) reduce the material on the board by trading pieces
4) attack and win the pawn

This diagram shows us a placement of pieces that was supported by the great grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch (1886-1935) in his book "My System". He put the bishop on (e3) supporting the weak (d4) pawn. However, a piece on the defense is an unlikely attacking piece. In modern chess, the bishop is not weighed down to defense but takes up an active post on (f4) or (g5). He recommended rooks to be placed on the c and d files to engage the enemy rooks on those files. If you engage the enemy then you will most likely make trades, and help your opponent reach a stronger endgame position. Remember your pawn weakness which is exploited in the endgame. So, in modern chess, the rooks have been moved to the (d) and (e) files to avoid trades.

Here we have modern chess pieces in action. All the pieces take up active roles attacking central squares. During the middle game, the weak (d) pawn can support outposts on the (c5) and (e5) squares. or it can be used as a battering ram by pushing it forward to the (d5) square. When it is supported by pieces, in the middlegame, it becomes an attacking weapon. So here is the trick: Attack in the middlegame before the pawn becomes weak in the endgame!!! The reason why it will be weak in the endgame is because your pieces will have to come over and support the weak pawn, leaving other areas unguarded. This will give your opponent more things to attack. Who needs problems like this?

Paul Keres vs, Henrique Mecking
San Antonio, TX USA November, 1972

However, the (d5) knight has wandered away from protecting the king. White takes advantage of this by launching an attack against the kingside with the moves:
15. Bb1 g6
White forces Black to advance a pawn shielding (h7) from attack. Once you have a weakness you must invade on the holes that result and White has his bishop ready!
16. Bh6!
See how the (f4) bishop can attack the center on the (h2-b8) diagonal and also be ready for a flank attack on the (c1-h6) diagonal. As for the (d5) knight, it could come back to the (f6) square to protect the h7 pawn. But then the black knight will be overloaded protecting two things at one time, the h7 square and the d5 square. Since checkmate will have to be prevented, White would be allowed to advance his (d4) pawn easily to (d5). This central expansion is key to the attack as you will see.

This bishop barrier through the hole on (h6) is crushing. Even though we are far away from an endgame you can deduce something. It means that Black will always have to guard his 8th rank. For instance, imagine all the Black pieces off of the board leaving only the Black Pawns. Now place a White rook on the 8th rank checkmating the Black Monarch. This visualization gives you a plan. It will keep Black on the defense instead of on the offense and this is key. If we can only find a way to put pressure on the 8th rank. White does that with central expansion by finding a way to push the (d4) pawn.

In Chess, attackers have to be aware of attacking weapons: Moving the White bishop from (c4) to (a2) and then down to the (b1) square so that it forms a battery with the queen on the (b1-h7) diagonal is a subtle trick to learn. The attack it generates can be hard to overcome without producing some other kind of weakness for the opponent. I call this trick "Putting the piece in motion". Have you ever seen American Football when a player is allowed to move , behind the offense, before the football is snapped. The player is said to "be in motion". Well, it is just like that.
16 ... Nxc3
17. bxc3 Re8
Black saddles White with a backward pawn on the (c3) square. Since the (c) pawn has no other pawn to protect it, it must be protected by pieces. The trick for the opponent is to get his pieces to camp themselves in front of these pawns. This is called the blockade.
18. c4 Qd6

Once the pawns are sitting side by side, for example on (c4,d4) they guard each other and protect the squares in front of them from being occupied by the opponents pieces. They are also much harder to attack because each one can move forward and protect the other depending on the situation. However, the opponent finds a new weakness by attacking the weak pawn on (a3) with his queen on (d6) and his bishop on (e7).
19. Re3 Bf6
White protects the (a3) pawn with a rook lift to the (e3) square forming a queen and rook battery along the third rank. Rook lifts are great because they allow your pieces to "go in motion" on a file. For instance, now another rook can move to the (e1) square forming a rook battery down the (e) file.
20. d5

Knowing when to "make your move" can be terribly nerve racking. How do you know when the time for attack, is the right time? Well, you have to count how many attackers and defenders there are in the area and try to visualize what the position will look like two or three moves from now in your head. To keep things simple, having a concept in your head is very important. Here, White only wants to make a passed pawn on the (d) file. Once the passed pawn has been made, White will follow the concept put forth by Aaron Nimzowitch which states that "passed pawns must be pushed". So the idea is simple, make a passed pawn and push it. Even though calculations are necessary for winning squares and material, ideas can guide you to take a lot of the unknowing out of the position. But, you know as well as I do, nothing takes the nerves away. That's where the fun is! But only when you win.
20... exd5
21. cxd5 Nd7
22. Ba2 Nc5
The pawns are traded and White receives his valuable passed (d) pawn. But, now that there are no more White pawns on (c4) and (d4), the opponent's outpost on (c5) is no longer guarded by White. So, Black is no sloucher, he moves right into his outpost square on (c5). This can make things doubly nerve racking. When you advance your pawns like White did, everything that they used to defend becomes undefendable like that outpost square on (c5). Once you move forward with pawns, you can never retreat.

If you noticed, White guarded his newly passed (d) pawn with his bishop moving to (a2). When you see things like this, it usually means that the opponent is going to move whatever was defending that pawn to other squares. This is another subtlety of grandmaster chess that you can use to make your games rock solid. Protect with a piece that will not be involved in the action, like the bishop moving to (a2), and then move your pieces, like the queen and rook on the (d) file, to active squares for an attack!
23. Qd2 Rxe3
24. Qxe3 Na4
25. Re1
Black knows that if White can put a piece in motion and double up on the (e) file then White will have a strong attack down that file. So, Black trades rooks.

Can you sense the build up now on the 8th rank at the (e8) square. This was seen moves ago all because the bishop sets a barrier on the (h6-f8) diagonal. So, the Queen and rook move off of the (d) file and over to the (e) file. The pressure is so great that the Black queen is forced to retreat to stave off checkmate and when she retreats, White will just advance the pawn..."Passed pawns must be pushed!"
25 ... Qd8
26. d6 Nc3

Now that the (d) pawn has moved forward, the (a2) bishop comes to life through the center of the board. This teamed up with the attack down the center (e) file and the bishop barrier on the (h6-f8) diagonal screams combination! Can you see the win of a pawn?
27. Bxf7+ Kh8
The king can not take the bishop because he will be checkmated by the White queen on the (e6) square! The barrier of the (h6) bishop truly shows its strength. All this because Black was forced to make a pawn weakness in front of his king by White putting pieces in motion.
28. d7 !!!

So the lowly pawn, moves to d7, and the opponent resigns. It is a testament to courage and only fitting that it tips the scales and wins the day!. Do you see the win? The winning threat for White is:
29. Qe8+ Qxe8
30. Rxe8 Rxe8
31. dxe8(queens)++
The pawn's position makes the 8th rank so weak that checkmate is unavoidable, unless the pawn is taken. So Black must take the sacrificed pawn with 28. ... Qxd7. When he does, White responds with: 29. Be6 with a skewer against the Black Queen and Rook on the (e6-c8) diagonal!

But Black puts up a fight with:
29 ... Nd5
Attacking the queen with one last slap of the glove. But White just continues with his plan.
30. Bxd7 Nxe3
31. Bxc8 Bxc8
32. Bxe3!
Finally, the bishop retreats, centralizes, and takes a piece! So, for his efforts, White has won a piece at the grandmaster level. But at this level it is enough to win the game! How would you proceed?

Well, after Black protects his 8th rank, with 32 ... Bd7, White could just simplify the position by trading pieces with the move 33. Bd4!!! pinning the black bishop to its king and forcing the exchange. The Black queen's-side pawns can then be destroyed by the White rook with a won ending.

1. Keres achieved an Isolated Queen's Pawn
   
2. He centralized his pieces
   
3. He put a "piece in motion" onto a diagonal and attacked the king's-side pawns
   
4. He made a pawn weakness in the king's pawn structure
   
5. He set up a "barrier" against the king, which made the 8th rank weak
   
6. He advanced in the center by pushing the isolated queen's pawn
   
7. He put his "pieces in motion again" onto the (e) file
   
8. He attacked down the (e) file and won the day.