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Weak pawns & strong pawns
Targets to attack, trumps to push.
Some pawns are weaknesses because they can't be defended by another pawn — isolated pawns (no neighbours), backward pawns (left behind, with a hole in front), and doubled pawns. Pieces have to babysit them, which ties your forces down and hands the other side the initiative. The way to play against them is to blockade the pawn, then pile up attackers on it.
One pawn is the opposite — a trump. A passed pawn, with no enemy pawns able to stop it, threatens to queen and grows stronger as pieces come off.
- Isolated, backward, and doubled pawns are targets.
- Play against a weak pawn: blockade the square in front, then pile on attackers.
- A knight is the ideal blockader — it stays active while it sits on the pawn.
- A passed pawn is a long-term winning trump that grows as pieces come off.