![]() ![]() This is a disadvantage to the player that controls the backward pawn. It’s not always good to be a pawn, a backward pawn can’t move forward without being threatened and captured by an opposing pawn. Pawns are like the little opponent, there’s strength in numbers. But if there were three such opponents attacking you at once, you would not be anywhere near as confident. Yes, a pawn is weak on its own but just like an infantryman when there are enough of them or if they are the only piece left in the fight, they can become much stronger than you might think.įor example, imagine a street fight, if it is just you and one opponent who is a little smaller than you, you would probably be confident of winning. While this is the most obvious example of the power of pawns there are others. The least likely promotion for a pawn is to a bishop which occurs in only roughly 1% of cases! In general, this tends to happen when a player can promote the pawn to a knight and create an immediate fork that results in a very high gain in material or a move that results in immediate checkmate. If the pawn is promoted to a different piece this is often known as “under promotion” because it has not fulfilled its potential. In fact, during the 1927 world championships Capablanca and Alekhine both had two queens on the board at the same time! It is perfectly permissible for a player to have more than one queen on the board at a time. Typically, the pawn is promoted to a queen. Thus, a pawn may become a queen, a knight, a rook or a bishop. Instead, the player whose pawn it is must promote the pawn to the rank of another piece. When a pawn is pushed forward so far that it reaches the last rank, it does not become useless. ![]() You may only capture a pawn en passant on the first move after that pawn has moved two squares forward, after that – it becomes immune to this form of capture. This is known as “en passant” (or in English, “in passing”). If a pawn has already made it to the 5 th rank (that is they are 3 squares away from their starting space) and their opponent moves a pawn two spaces to occupy he square next to the existing pawn (and thus circumventing the threat of being captured that would occur had they only moved one square), they may capture this pawn as though it had only moved one square. There is only one exception to this rule. When they capture another piece, it is only allowed if they move a single square forward diagonally. Imagine if you were an officer and you were preparing to face the enemy, would you worry more about one man on horseback or 8 infantry soldiers charging over the rise at you?Ī pawn may move one or two squares forward on their first move, after this, whether they moved two squares or not on that first move, they are restricted to moving only a single square forward. While the infantry may be viewed by their leaders as “disposable” in real life, as in chess, the infantry can turn the tide of a war. The battle of the Somme without the two lines of trenches slowly wearing away at each other. Imagine the D-Day landings without troops to rush up the beach. Yet, it is in the idea of infantry that we find our first clue as to the value of pawns. They are the “cannon fodder” of chess, meant for pushing forward, testing the enemy’s strength and their loss is never so costly that it feels like that the game has just become hopeless. If you think of a chess color as an army, then it quickly becomes obvious which group the pawns are meant to represent: the infantry. They occupy the 2 nd rank and 7 th rank for white and black, respectively, at the start of the game completely walling off the major pieces from the rest of the board. In fact, it makes up fully half of all the pieces on the board. The pawn is the most numerous piece in chess. ![]()
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