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When Black has a far advanced passed pawn, then White usually has to give up his a rook, which leads to a fight of connected pawns against the rook. If pawns are not near the promotion squares, Black has a chance to save the game even with a very distant king. A wonderful example […]
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It is a completely different strategy when the black king is not in front of the connected pawns. There are no mating threats then and it mostly comes down to a pawn race. If the white king is not near his pawns, then it is most important to prevent their blockade. The right way […]
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If the white pawn majority has not occupied more space, the nuances will decide. A breakthrough will be possible only if the black king is far and the outside passed pawn poses no immediate danger. A brilliant example is the game Moravec – Culka, 1908. White to move wins despite his pawns being momentarily […]
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When passed pawns are separated they can be stopped by the enemy king only if their common square has not yet reached the eighth rank. If each side has passed pawns whose common square includes the eighth rank, the side with faster pawns will win. This position, with colours reversed, arose in the game […]
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Based on the strategy and conclusions reached from the preceding four examples when playing against pawns on initial positions (see 159) , the winning strategy used in the famous study by Szen, published in 1840, is easily understood. White to move wins. He must immobilize his opponent’s “electric” pawns (f- and h-pawns) as soon […]
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A curious case appears in the following diagram! This position is also drawn whoever has the move, but there are some dangers to be avoided.
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In symmetrical positions the advantage of the first move is, as a rule, decisive. Whenever it is possible to advance a pawn by a tempo it should be done since thus not only more space will be gained but also the opponent will be brought into zugzwang more quickly.
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Sometimes the win is even more concealed. It is brought about by a double transformation – first from the pawn into the queen ending, and then from the queen ending again into the pawn ending! This theme is illustrated in a study by H. Walker in 1841.
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Pawn promotion into the queen with check represents a very frequent motif in endings with passed pawns. This theme is nicely demonstrated in a brilliant study by N. Grigoriev, 1930.
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Isolated pawns are, as a rule, stronger. However, also in the following example White wins since his pawns are much nearer to the promotion square. In this study by B. Horwitz and J. Kling published in 1851, the black pawns’ common square reaches only the second rank.
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