Understanding pawns and their structure

In the game of Chess, the role played by pawns is of equal importance in comparison with other pieces. Though the value of the pawn in the least among the pieces, they do play an important part in a successful chess strategy.

Let us try to understand the various types of pawn structures and their relative importance in chess tactics.

Pawn Islands: Pawns are placed in front of the other pieces in the second rank for white pieces and in the seventh rank for black pieces, when viewed from white side. All the files - a to h - have one pawn each in either color. A pawn island refers to the situation where a set of pawns are isolated from other pawns.

Let me give an example of a pawn island. If you have pawns on every file except the 'b' file and the 'f' file, then you will have 3 pawn islands viz., "a", "c to e", and "g and h".

Open Files : In the above example, you have noticed that pawns are missing from the files 'b' and 'f'. These two files are referred to as Open Files. These open files will offer an opportunity for the rooks to exert pressure on your pieces.

Isolated Pawn : A pawn which has no support from other pawns is referred to as an isolated pawn. Quoting from the above example, the pawn at "a" file is referred to as an isolated pawn.

Doubled Pawn : A doubled pawn is where one pawn is behind another on the same file.
This will be deemed a weakness if there are is no pawn on any one of the sides of the doubled pawn structure, and the two pawns in one file will be referred to as island pawns. However, if there is any pawn adjacent to the doubled pawn structure, then it is not so weak.

Open Pawn Structure : In a chess board, when the pawns of both the players have been largely eliminated due to exchanges, leaving more space and agility to the other minor and major pieces, then such a situation is referred to as Open Pawn Structure, and will be very useful for long-range chess pieces such as rooks and bishops. However, knights cannot take effective advantage of an open pawn structure due to their restricted odd movements.

When faced with such a situation, it is essential that you should keep the pawn setup in mind when looking at piece exchanges. If it is open, or will be, then you should look at swapping one of your knights for an opponent's bishop, leaving you with the best piece for the situation.

Closed Pawn Structure: In contrast to an open pawn structure, if the chess board is crowded with more pawns, and also the opportunities for further movement of the pawns forward is limited or denied, then such a set up is referred to as a Closed Pawn Structure. Long-range pieces such as Bishops and Rooks will find it difficult to move in a closed pawn structure, while knights will find more space to move around. When faced with a closed pawn structure, it is advisable to retain the knights and exchange your bishops for opponent's knights, thus giving more advantage over the opponent.

An understanding of the pawns and their structure in the board will have a role to play in adapting a good chess strategy that will lead to victory over the opponent.