It is very often nowadays that when we study pawn structures we tend to separate them into “good” and “bad” ones. Among the good, we put those queenside majorities, as fewer pawn islands as possible, strong pawn chains in the center, etcetera. Among the not so good structures, we consider having an isolated central pawn, having doubled pawns, hanging pawns and so on. The truth is that each structure has its own story and its potential depends fully on the position.

The isolated pawn is a very common middlegame theme. Thus, it is very important to know the strategy for playing with and against it. In my previous article I’ve covered the general ideas of playing with the isolated pawn, if you missed it, you can always review it here. The importance of this topic is related to the fact that isolated pawn positions can arise from a huge number of openings: Queen’s Gambit, Queen’s Indian Defense, Nimzo-Indian Defense, French Defense, Caro-Kann Defense (Panov Attack) and even the Sicilian Defense. In today’s article, I will describe the main plans for successfully playing against the isolated pawn. Let’s get started.

In modern chess theory, an isolated pawn is a common and a very important positional theme.

The side playing with an isolated pawn typically tries utilizing spatial or developmental advantage in exchange for the pawn’s weakness.

By accepting the position with an isolated pawn, a player expects to employ the position dynamics for starting a quick attack.

Another important figure of the classical chess is former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik. He was born in the Soviet Union, in a region of what is now Saint Petersburg. He learned chess at the age of twelve, from a school friend of his older brother’s and fell in love with the game immediately. The first success came one year later, in 1924, when he won his school’s championship. In 1925 he beat the World Champion Jose Raul Capablanca in a simultaneous exhibition that was held during the Moscow tournament.

Knowing your theory well is very important nowadays, but unfortunately not enough. With such an amount of information available to practically everyone, it is less and less probable that you win a game out of the opening thanks to some good preparation. Usually, the difference between a strong player and an amateur or beginner is seen in the middlegame, where the Grandmaster is able to select the right plans according to the type of position he has on the board.

There is probably little we could say about Alexander Alekhine that is new to our readers. He is considered to be one of the greatest players ever and his games are an inspiration to every chess aficionado. He became the fourth World Champion in 1927, after defeating the Cuban legend Jose Raul Capablanca. He defended his title until 1935 when his reign was put on hold for a short time by Max Euwe. However, he regained the title in 1937 and kept it until his death, in 1946.

Excelling at technical chess is a quality rarely found below top level chess. The ability to convert winning positions into a full point with certainty is something every player should work on until it is polished at a medium/high level. As you already can imagine, this is easier said than done and even Grandmasters struggle with this issue at times. In this article, we wanted to shed some light in an endgame that may seem easy at first sight but still takes a fair amount of work in order to bring home the full point.

As you already can imagine, this is easier said than done and even Grandmasters struggle with this issue at times.

In this article, we wanted to shed some light in an endgame that may seem easy at first sight but still takes a fair amount of work in order to bring home the full point.

Perhaps the most common structure arising from the majority of queen’s pawn openings (1.d4) is the structure known as the Carlsbad pawn structure. It is a structure rich in ideas for both sides with many hidden subtleties and unique methods of playing.

Of course, if you have followed our articles in the past you may know the different plans for white in this particular structure. If not, you can read about it here and here.

Akiba Rubinstein is probably a familiar name to every chess player, having left behind a precious legacy of games that new generations of chess players still study and learn from. Born in 1880, Rubinstein is one of the players who never got to be a World Champion due to the simple fact that he never played a match for the title, but his strength is undeniable. Between 1907 and 1912 he won a number of strong events that established him as one of the best players in the world, but in those times it was usual for the World Champion to handpick his future challenger.

The middlegame is something that many club players are struggling with because there is no clear way to improving it. You can work on tactics, memorize openings and drill the endgames, but the middlegame understanding is something that comes only with experience. In order to get that experience, you need to both study the classics as well as try applying that knowledge in your own games.