The pawn-play academy
Small moves. Profound changes.
Learn when to hold, advance, capture or break. Explain what changes for both sides, play the position, and return until the idea becomes yours.
A learning method, not a list to memorise
First diagnose the centre. Write your candidate and your opponent’s strongest response. Compare the position after the final recapture: pawn support, occupied and controlled squares, opened lines, piece activity and concessions. Then test the plan from the other side.
Use five studies a week for the 30-lesson Central Pawn Play II course, or explore at your own pace. Self-rated reviews measure your confidence, not an engine score or promised rating gain. Model game moves illustrate a plan; they are not all forced or necessarily engine-best.
Teaching diagrams deliberately omit pieces and are not playable chess positions. Full positions are legally replay-checked. Historical dates and source limitations are retained in each study.
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Start the Central Pawn Play II course →180 of 180 studies
French: attack the support with ...c5
After ...cxd4 cxd4, which pawn disappeared, which target remains, and which file changed?
Teaching diagram · Think & explain
French: challenge the head with ...f6
What is the best reason to play ...f6 now rather than prepare it for another move?
Teaching diagram · Think & explain
Advance Caro-Kann: the ...c5 counterstrike
How does the location of Black's light-squared bishop change the value of the same pawn break?
Teaching diagram · Think & explain
Open Sicilian: the freeing ...d5 break
After the exchanges, does Black want a pawn on d5, a piece on d5, or an empty d-file?
Teaching diagram · Think & explain
Accelerated Dragon: save a tempo with ...d5
Which White move would most directly make the one-step ...d5 plan harder to achieve?
Teaching diagram · Think & explain
Maroczy Bind: undermine c4 with ...b5
Is ...b5 intended to create a queenside passer, or to weaken White's control of d5?
Teaching diagram · Think & explain
Hedgehog: release stored energy with ...d5
Name the two Black pieces whose activity would improve most after the central exchanges.
Teaching diagram · Think & explain
Benoni-type centre: e5 clears the road for d6
After ...dxe5, what should you examine before automatically playing fxe5?
Teaching diagram · Think & explain
King's Indian: ...f5 challenges e4
Which response by White would open lines, and which would keep the kingside closed?
Teaching diagram · Think & explain
King's Indian: c5 attacks the other wing
What concrete gain will the queenside break produce before Black's kingside threats become decisive?
Teaching diagram · Think & explain
Carlsbad: create a weakness with b5
Which square blocks the new c6 pawn, and how will White add a second attacker?
Teaching diagram · Think & explain
Carlsbad: choose a central plan instead
Would your present pieces be better placed for b5 or for e4, and why?
Teaching diagram · Think & explain
Source bibliography & further reading
The original materials’ score sources and supplementary reading are preserved below. The source links in each lesson identify its game context.
- Devon Junior Chess — Hanging pawns
- Devon Junior Chess — Playing with an IQP
- Devon Junior Chess — Playing against an IQP
- ChessWorld — Pawn-structure game scores
- ChessWorld — Kasparov game scores
- ChessWorld — Queen’s Indian game scores
- The Chesspedia — Petrosian–Spassky 1966 match scores
- The Chesspedia — Capablanca–Alekhine 1927 match scores
- ChessWorld — Nimzo-Indian game scores
- ChessWorld — Queen’s Gambit Declined game scores
- Jan Markos — The most suitable moment for a pawn break