In
chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
, a backward pawn is a
pawn that is behind all pawns of the same color on the adjacent and cannot be safely advanced. In the diagram, the black pawn on the c6-square is backward.
Disadvantages
Backward pawns are usually a positional disadvantage because they are unable to be defended by other pawns. Also, the opponent can place a piece, usually a
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
, on the in front of the pawn without any risk of a pawn driving it away. The backward pawn also prevents its owner's
rooks and
queen
Queen most commonly refers to:
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen (band), a British rock band
Queen or QUEEN may also refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Q ...
on the same file from attacking the piece placed on the hole.
If the backward pawn is on a
half-open file
In chess, a half-open file (or semi-open file) is a with pawns of only one color. The half-open file can provide a line of attack for a player's rook or queen. A half-open file is generally exploited by the player with no pawns on it.
Many ...
, the disadvantage is even greater, as the pawn can be attacked more easily by an opponent's rook or queen on the file. Pieces can become weak when they are devoted to protecting a backward pawn, since their obligation to defend the pawn keeps them from being deployed for other uses.
In practice
Modern opening theory features several openings in which one of the players deliberately incurs a backward pawn in exchange for some other advantage such as
initiative
Popular initiative
A popular initiative (also citizens' initiative) is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition.
In direct initiative, the proposition is put direct ...
or better . An example is the
Sveshnikov Variation of the
Sicilian Defence
The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the following moves:
:1. e4 c5
The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4. The opening 1.d4 is a statistically more successful opening for Whi ...
.
After the moves 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 (or 4...e5 5.Nb5 d6 – the
Kalashnikov Variation) 5. Nc3 e5!? 6. Ndb5 d6 (see diagram), Black has a backward pawn on d6, but White now has to endure a displacement of his knights and an undermining of his after 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 (dodging the threatened pawn-fork of the knights) 10... f5! (or 10...Bg7 11.c3
acilitating the knight on a3 to return to the center via Na3–c2–e311...f5!) 11. c3 Bg7, and so on.
See also
*
Connected pawns
*
Doubled pawns
*
Isolated pawn
*
Pawn structure
In a game of chess, the pawn structure (sometimes known as the pawn skeleton) is the configuration of pawn (chess), pawns on the chessboard. Because pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
{{chess
Chess terminology
Chess strategy