14 May 04
1 edit
Originally posted by KyoCertainly. A knight is the best blockader because its movement is not restricted by the pawn. A knight can sit right in front of a passed pawn and still have its maximum influence of eight squares. Bishops can sometimes blockade and still be pretty good pieces, but it depends on the position. The queen can be used to blockade a pawn, but it's like having the general dig a foxhole. Rooks are absolutely the worst pieces to use as blockaders, because it makes them extremely passive. I hope I have helped.
can someone explain or give examples as to why the knight is the best blockader of a passed pawn, as opposed to another piece such as a rook, bishop, queen or king? having played for a while i should know the reason behind this!
14 May 04
yah, what natural science said, with the addenda that rooks are terribly easy to drive away (eg. with pawns or bishops), knights are a little harder to drive away (you threaten a protected knight with a bishop, it just gets traded and the blockader changes).
I actually like bishops about equally well as blockaders, because they're hardest to drive away (you can't drive one away with a lone pawn) but their scope is a little limited if you sensibly protect one with a pawn when blockading, and they usually have better things to do.
19 May 04
Originally posted by KyoNimzowich has written a book on this topic.
can someone explain or give examples as to why the knight is the best blockader of a passed pawn, as opposed to another piece such as a rook, bishop, queen or king? having played for a while i should know the reason behind this!
He has covered a lot on blocade in his another book My System.
Worth reading!