isolated queens pawn - tag

An early n4 move by White and n5 by Black, followed by undermining pawn moves in the adjacent files—and there it is, the true “pride and sorrow” of chess. Not only can it win you games like a rockstar, it can also lose you games like mere simpletons!

Typical maneuvers that every chess player must know. The Isolated Central Pawn or IQP (isolated queen’s pawn) is one of the classic structures in that every player must learn how to play with both sides. It is a unique structure with established characteristics and plans of playing with it or against it. Part of chess […]

There are a few classical positions or classic middlegames that every chess player should know how to play. Some of them are the King’s Indian structure with the closed center, the hanging pawns structure, and the isolated central pawn, which is the subject of this article. Clearly, the importance of knowing these structures is because […]

Isolated queen’s pawn positions are incredibly rich in ideas for both sides. The discussion on how there are several possible ways to play these types of positions for both sides is never-ending. In this article we will discuss a very important structure that occurs often in such positions; see the following diagram.

Positions in which an isolated central pawn appears are a common element in chess. In this article, we will look deeper into the advantages of this pawn structure and how to exploit them. First of all, to know how to play these positions (no matter what side you’re on) we must understand certain concepts about […]