| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 |      | 8 | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
Inchess,doubled pawns are twopawns of the same color residing on the samefile. Pawns can become doubled only when one pawn captures onto a file on which another friendly pawn resides. In the diagram, the white pawns on the b-file and e-file are doubled. The pawns on thee-file are doubled andisolated.
In most cases, doubled pawns are considered a weakness due to their inability to defend each other. This inability, in turn, makes it more difficult to achieve a breakthrough which could create apassed pawn (often a deciding factor inendgames). In the case of isolated doubled pawns, these problems are only further aggravated. Several chess strategies andopenings are based on burdening the opponent with doubled pawns, a strategic weakness.
There are, however, cases where accepting doubled pawns can be advantageous because doing so may open up a file for arook, or because the doubled pawns perform a useful function, such as defending important squares. Also, if the opponent is unable to effectively attack the pawns, their inherent weakness may be of little or no consequence. There are also a number of openings that accept doubled pawns in exchange for some prevailing advantage, such as theTwo Knights Variation ofAlekhine's Defence.
Tripled pawns Kavalek vs. Fischer, 1967
Position after 19...fxe4 | Quadrupled pawns Kovács vs. Barth, 1994
Final position, Black to move, draw | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
It is possible to have tripled pawns (or more). Tripled pawns are sometimes referred to as an Irish Pawn Center.[1] The diagram shows a position fromLubomir Kavalek–Bobby Fischer, SousseInterzonal 1967. The pawns remained tripled at the end of the game on move 28 (adraw).
Quadrupled pawns occurred in the gameAlexander Alekhine–Vladimir Nenarokov, 1907, inJohn van der Wiel–Vlastimil Hort, 1981, and in other games. The longest lasting case of quadrupled pawns was in the game Kovács–Barth,Balatonberény 1994, lasting 23 moves.[2] The final position was drawn, demonstrating the weakness of the extra pawns (see diagram).
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | | 8 | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
There are different types of doubled pawns (see diagram). A doubled pawn is weak because of four considerations:
The doubled pawns on the b-file are in the best situation, the f-file pawns are next. The h-file pawns are in the worst situation because two pawns are held back by one opposing pawn, so the second pawn has little value (Berliner 1999:18–20). SeeChess piece relative value for more discussion.
Bibliography
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