In theCarlsbad pawn structure, a common plan for white is to advance the a and b-pawns in a minority attack.
Inchess, aminority attack is the advancement of one'spawns on the side of the board where one has fewer pawns than their opponent, intending to use their minority tostrategically provoke a weakness (i.e, anisolated orbackward pawn) in the opponent'spawn structure. The minority attack is a commonmiddlegame plan that can be played in many pawn structures. The name might be misleading, as the "attack" does not involvetactics planned to producecheckmate or significantmaterial gain, but rather astrategical and structural advantage for the attacking player.[1][2][3]
The minority attack can be strengthened by the moving of one or bothrooks to thefiles where the attacking player intends to advance their pawns, planningprophylactically for the opening of the files. Common openings that result in pawn structures where a minority attack is effective include theQueen's Gambit Declined and theCaro-Kann Defense. The minority attack occurs most commonly on thequeenside, as players commonlycastle kingside in openings where a minority attack is effective, and the advancement of the pawns on the side of the castled king is widely considered to severely weaken the king's safety.[4][5][6]
This game, lauded as an example of a successful minority attack, demonstrates the goals and execution of the attack. In the diagrammed position,Anatoly Karpov has just played20. b4! initiating the minority attack. After20... Ng6 21. a4 a6 22. Bc3 Qg5 23. Bd4 Bxd4 24. Nxd4 Bd5 25. e4 Be6 26. Nf3 Qf4 Karpov plays27. b5!, provoking a weakness and threatening to severely impedeJoël Lautier's pawn structure by capturing on a6 or c6, creating an isolated pawn and leaving Lautier three pawn islands. After27... axb5 28. axb5 the game lasted 44 moves before Lautier resigned due to Karpov's passed d-pawn and the weakness of his own c-pawn.[7]
In this position, World ChampionTigran Petrosian has just played12. b4, initiating the minority attack and intending to advance both the a and b-pawns to provoke weaknesses in black's queenside majority. After12... Bf5 13. Bxf5 Nxf5, Petrosian played14. b5! On move 22, the advancement of white's queenside pawns resulted in a destruction of black's queenside pawn structure and the creation of two isolated pawns for black, creating a decisive advantage for Petrosian.[8]
In this position, Syrian-American GrandmasterYasser Seirawan has just played13. b4 against the former World ChampionMikhail Tal, expanding his a and b-pawn minority on the queenside against Tal's a, b, and c-pawn majority. Tal responded13... a5!?, counterattacking Seirawan's queenside and hoping to isolate the b-pawn. The game continued14. Be2 axb4 15. axb4 Rxa1+ 16. Qxa1 Qe7 17. Qc3 Nc6 when Seirawan continued18. b5! removing the knight from the powerful c6 square and advancing his b-pawn. The game further continued18... Nd8 19. O-O c5 20. bxc6 bxc6 21. Rd1, and black's weak c-pawn fell on move 33, creating a decisive structural advantage for Seirawan.[9]
