Advanced pawn Chess Puzzles

Background reading

Pawn (chess)

The pawn (♙, ♟) is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess. It can move one vacant square directly forward, or one or two vacant squares directly forward on its first move, and can capture one square diagonally forward. Each player begins a game with eight pawns, one on each square of their second rank. The white pawns start on a2 through h2, while the black pawns start on a7 through h7. Individual pawns are often referred to by the file on which they stand. For example, one speaks of "White's f-pawn" or "Black's b-pawn". It is also common to refer to a rook pawn, meaning any pawn on the a- or h-files, a knight pawn (on the b- or g-files), a bishop pawn (on the c- or f-files), a queen pawn (on the d-file), a king pawn (on the e-file), and a central pawn (on the d- or e-files).

Placement and movement

Each player begins the game with eight pawns placed along their second rank. A pawn may move by vertically advancing to a vacant square ahead. The first time a pawn moves, it has the additional option of vertically advancing two squares, provided that both squares are vacant. Unlike other pieces, the pawn can only move forwards. In the second diagram, the pawn on c4 can move to c5, and the pawn on e2 can move to either e3 or e4.

Capturing

Unlike other pieces, the pawn does not capture in the same way that it moves. A pawn captures by moving diagonally forward one square to the left or right, either replacing an enemy piece on its square (first diagram) or capturing en passant (second diagram).

En passant

An en passant (French:, lit. "in passing") capture can occur after a pawn moves two squares and the square it passes over is attacked by an enemy pawn. The enemy pawn is entitled to capture the moved pawn "in passing" as if the latter had advanced only one square. The capturing pawn moves to the square over which the moved pawn passed, removing it from the board. An en passant capture can only be done on the move immediately following the double-step pawn advance. It is the only capture in which the capturing piece does not move to the square of the captured piece.

Promotion

A pawn that advances to its last rank is promoted to a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of the same color. The pawn is replaced by the new piece on the same move. The choice of promotion is not limited to pieces that have been captured; thus, a player could, in theory, have as many as nine queens, ten rooks, ten bishops, or ten knights on the board. Typically, a pawn is promoted to a queen, the most powerful piece. Promotion to a queen is known as queening, while promotion to any other piece is known as underpromotion. Reasons for underpromotion include tactical positions involving a knight check, and avoiding stalemate.

Pawn structure

The pawn structure, the configuration of pawns on the chessboard, determines the strategic flavor of a game. While other pieces can usually be moved to more favorable positions if they are temporarily badly placed, a poorly positioned pawn often cannot be so relocated. In addition, being the most numerous piece, the pawn structure restricts and directs the piece movements of each side. Because pawns capture diagonally and can be blocked from advancing, opposing pawns can become locked in diagonal pawn chains of two or more pawns of each color, where each player controls squares of one color. In the diagram, Black and White have locked their d- and e-pawns. Here, White has a long-term space advantage. White will have an easier time than Black in finding good squares for their pieces, particularly with an eye to the kingside. Black, in contrast, suffers from a bad bishop on c8, which is prevented by the black pawns from finding a good square or helping out on the kingside. On the other hand, White's central pawns are somewhat overextended and vulnerable to attack. Black can undermine the white pawn chain with an immediate ...c5 and perhaps a later ...f6.