Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe a good player is capable to having an evil thought during the game. /Wilhelm Steinitz/
“Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.”
George Woodberry (1855 - 1930)
American Literary critic
PREVIOUS LESSON RECAP: VALUE OF THE CHESS PIECES
It should come as no surprise that the piece values are directly tied to a piece's strength. A pawn is worth one point, a knight or bishop is worth three points, a rook is worth five points and a queen is worth nine points.
The king is the only piece that doesn't have a point value. This is because the king cannot be captured (an attacked king is in check), and also because checkmating the king is the true goal of any chess game.
LESSON OF THE DAY: PAWN STRUCTURE
1.What is the importance of a solid pawn structure and how to identify strong vs. week pawn structures. Strong pawns are positioned side-by-side to protect each other. Weak pawns are typically lined up in front of one another on the same file, unable to provide protection.
1.Here are the different types of pawns:
a.Passed Pawns
b.Protected passed pawns
c.Isolated pawns
d.Isolated, passed pawns
e.Doubled isolated pawns
f.Tripled isolated pawns
g.Pawn chain
h.Base Pawns
i.Backward Pawns
j.Doubled Pawns
k.Tripled Pawns
Passed Pawns:A passed pawn is a pawn that can move to the other side of the board and promote without an opponent’s pawn blocking it or guarding squares in its path. Passed pawns are strong Pawns because one of the opponent’s pieces must guard against the pawn’s attempt to promote to a queen. Rather than allowing the pawn to promote, often the defending player must give up a piece for the passed pawn. The further up the board a passed pawn is, the more dangerous it becomes.
Protected Passed Pawns: A protected Passed pawn is a passed pawn that is protected by a friendly pawn. Protected passed pawns are the strongest pawns. See example below:
Isolated Pawns: Isolated pawns are pawns that are all alone with no other friendly pawns on adjacent files. Isolated pawns are especially weak pawns if they are on a half-open file where the opposing rooks can line up and attack them.
Isolated Passed Pawns: An isolated passed pawn has the good attribute of being passed and the bad attribute of being isolated.
Doubled Isolated Pawns: These are two pawns lined up on the same file with no friendly pawn on adjacent file to provide protection.
Triple Isolated Pawns: Triple isolated pawns are three pawns on the same file with no friendly pawn on an adjacent file to provide protection. The occurrence of tripled isolated pawns is rare (Nimzo-Indian).
Pawn Chain: A pawn chain is a group of pawns on adjacent files that protect each other.
Base Pawns: A base pawn is the pawn that is the base of a pawn chain and, therefore, has no pawn to protect it.
Backward Pawns: A backward pawn is a base pawn on an opponent’s half-open file that is vulnerable to attach by rooks.
Doubled Pawns: These are pawns on the same file that have a pawn on an adjacent file that could provide protection. Doubled pawns are much stronger than doubled isolated pawns.
Tripled Pawns: Tripled pawns are three pawns on the same file that have a pawn on an adjacent file that could protect them. Tripled pawns are fairly rare.
Pawn Structure Exercise: Find the different pawn types: https://lichess.org/study/FrPsrCJB
•How many protected passed pawns do you see?
•How many isolated pawns do you see?
•How many triple isolated pawns do you see?
•Find the doubled isolated pawns.
•Do you see any isolated pawns?
•What are the White and Black Pawn chains?
•Do you see any base pawns?
•How many Backward pawns do you see?
•Do you see any doubled pawns?
Creating Weaknesses in the opponent’s pawn structure:
1. Scenario 1: Creating doubled and isolated pawns: https://lichess.org/study/Wyqq93vN
2. Scenario 2: Preventing weaknesses with an exchange: https://lichess.org/study/5RQRJzyD
3. Scenario 3: How to create a passed pawn: https://lichess.org/study/WXOA5pCc
Immortal Chess Game
Robert Byrne vs. Bobby Fischer
“The Brilliancy Prize” US Championship (1963), New York, NY
King’s Indian Defense; Fianchetto Variation, Immediate Fianchetto
Checkmating Patterns and Practice
1. Mate in 3+ Moves.
2. Zugzwang
Deep into the Mind of a Chess Grandmaster
•Practice
•Put the Hard-work
•Have Discipline
•Gain Experience
•Find a Strong Coach
•Learn from other Grandmasters
•Constantly Learn and improve
•Know your weaknesses
•Be Confident
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