Originally posted by The Swine Down HopeBackwards pawn is a pawn that can not be supported by another pawn, so it is weak. If the column is open then the rooks can double up on it etc
can someone explain what a backward pawn is and the significance of it being on a open column?
Similiarly what does develop the bishop outside of the pawn chain mean?
Cheers D
ps keep it up, it all helps 🙄
The bishop pawn chain thing is a choice really, I often leave the bishop inside the pawn chain on queens pawn games where it cant be harrassed and then bring it out in the middle game. All it means is say you have pawns on c3, d4, e3 its just is the bishop outside those pawns in the open or is it locked inside for the time being.
Originally posted by buddy2Bad bishops defend good pawns, as Suba and Watson point out! It basically depends on the specifics of the position.
Which brings up an interesting point, lucifershammer. Aren't we all taught to put pawns on opposite colors of bishop in endgame? Now aren't you saying something entirely different? Or is there another factor at work?
My contribution: don't release the tension in the centre unless you can gain a clear structural or tactical advantage.
Originally posted by GrayeyesofsorrowThis is an especially strong piece of advice, and would make it good advice to trade off your opponent's bad bishop if it is serving him a useful purpose, such as the defense of a pawn or key square. Below is a link to a game where Fischer puts this principle to practice:
Bad bishops make good defenders :-)
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044351
Very few of the grandmasters watching this game as it was being played took 22.Nxd7+ seriously at the time, until they realized Fischer's reason for playing it. He gave away his proud knight for Petrosian's inactive bishop because it was capable of defending the pawn on d5. Once the bishop was gone, Petrosian was forced to use his knight for this chore.
Originally posted by The Swine Down HopeI'll address the "bishop outside of the pawn chain" since I prefer a few openings with that.
Similiarly what does develop the bishop outside of the pawn chain mean?
Cheers D
ps keep it up, it all helps 🙄
Here's one as white:
1. d4 , d5,
2. Nf3 , Nf6
3. Bf4
So white locks down e5 by using the f3 Knight and the f4 Bishop, but at some point White has to play e3 or g3 in order to activate the kingside bishop. If white plays 4. e3 then the bishop on f4 gets locked outside of the white pawn chain. Sometimes in this opening you'll see white play h3 to give the bishop a retreat square to h2, but still keeping it on the same diagonal (attacking e5).
Oh, and a second level tip that I like...
Don't grab pawns if it gives your opponent counterplay
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Originally posted by buddy2Thanks Natural Science and Osse - that's exactly what I meant.
Which brings up an interesting point, lucifershammer. Aren't we all taught to put pawns on opposite colors of bishop in endgame? Now aren't you saying something entirely different? Or is there another factor at work?
Personally, I prefer a "bad" Bishop to a "good" Bishop in an endgame where my opponent has the initiative. The Bishop helps me hold the fort down while I regroup my forces. Of course, the opposite applies when I am the player with the initiative.
Another second-level piece of advice - if you have to create a pawn majority on one side of the board, do so on the side away from where the enemy King has castled. That way, the enemy King has to travel the length of the board in a pawn and king endgame. This is particularly effective when the two Kings have castled on the same side. The opposing King will be forced to travel to the other side (if he doesn't, your pawn majority can force a passed pawn by themselves) while you get behind his own pawns.
Edit: The whole "good bishop"-"bad bishop" thing is a bit overrated in the endgame, IMHO. More important is the activity of the King.
*"You can't have a backward pawn on an open file."
The way I define them, you can.
A file is open for a player if that player has no Pawn on that file.
A Pawn is backward if the Pawns to the left and right of it (on adjacent files) are ahead of it and it can't catch up.
Therefore, if White has Pawns on c4, d2, e4, and Black has Pawns on c5 and e5, and no Pawn on the d file, then Black has a backward Pawn on White's open file.
I guess some people call that a half open file?
Originally posted by AThousandYoungActually, the strategy for attacks down a half-open or semi-open file is quite different from that down a [fully] open file. The prime drive of play down a semi-open file will be to [eventually] convert it into an open file with an advantage. The prime drive of play down an open file is to penetrate the seventh and eight ranks of the opponent with your rooks.
*"You can't have a backward pawn on an open file."
The way I define them, you can.
A file is open for a player if that player has no Pawn on that file.
A Pawn is backward if the Pawns to the left and right of it (on adjacent files) are ahead of it and it can't catch up.
Therefore, if White has Pawns on c4, d2, e4, and Black has Pawns o ...[text shortened]... ck has a backward Pawn on White's open file.
I guess some people call that a half open file?
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Originally posted by AThousandYoungA half-open/semi-open file for White (say) is a file that has no White pawns on it, but has one or more Black pawns on it. A [fully] open file is one with no pawns (of either colour) on it.
What do you define a "half open or semi open" file as, and how do you define a "fully open" file?
There's a handy little book called "Teach Yourself Better Chess", not to be confused with "Teach Yourself Chess" which was it's predecessor. I've seen it mentioned in another thread somewhere. The point is, it is full of 1 page lessons of insight along these lines. 1 example, forget about castling as a king move, castling is a rook move, figure out where your rooks are most likely going to be needed before deciding which side to castle to. Very handy little book.
Brian