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In chess
Chess

Chess is a recreational and competitive game played between two Player . Sometimes called Western chess or international chess to distinguish it from History of chess and other chess variants, the current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from similar, much older...
, a backward pawn is a pawn
Pawn (chess)

The pawn is the weakest and most numerous chess piece in the game of chess, representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen....
 that is behind the pawns of the same color on the adjacent files
Chess terminology

This page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. Some of these have their own pages, like Fork and Pin . For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific to chess problems, see chess problem terminology; for a list of chess related games, see chess variants....
 and that cannot be advanced without loss of material, usually the backward pawn itself.

In the diagrammed position, the Black pawn on the c6 square is backward. Backward pawns are usually a positional disadvantage, since they are hard to defend. Also, the opponent can place a piece, usually a knight, on the hole
Chess terminology

This page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. Some of these have their own pages, like Fork and Pin . For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific to chess problems, see chess problem terminology; for a list of chess related games, see chess variants....
 in front of the pawn without any risk of a pawn driving it away.






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In chess
Chess

Chess is a recreational and competitive game played between two Player . Sometimes called Western chess or international chess to distinguish it from History of chess and other chess variants, the current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from similar, much older...
, a backward pawn is a pawn
Pawn (chess)

The pawn is the weakest and most numerous chess piece in the game of chess, representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen....
 that is behind the pawns of the same color on the adjacent files
Chess terminology

This page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. Some of these have their own pages, like Fork and Pin . For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific to chess problems, see chess problem terminology; for a list of chess related games, see chess variants....
 and that cannot be advanced without loss of material, usually the backward pawn itself.

In the diagrammed position, the Black pawn on the c6 square is backward. Backward pawns are usually a positional disadvantage, since they are hard to defend. Also, the opponent can place a piece, usually a knight, on the hole
Chess terminology

This page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. Some of these have their own pages, like Fork and Pin . For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific to chess problems, see chess problem terminology; for a list of chess related games, see chess variants....
 in front of the pawn without any risk of a pawn driving it away. The backward pawn also prevents the black rooks
Rook (chess)

A rook is a chess piece in the strategy board game of chess. In the past the piece was called the castle, tower, marquess, rector, and comes , and non-players still often call it a "castle"....
 and queen
Queen (chess)

The queen is the most powerful chess piece in the game of chess. Each player starts the game with one queen, placed in the middle of their first rank next to their King ....
 on the eighth rank from attacking the piece placed on the hole.

If the backward pawn is on a half-open file
Half-open file

In chess, a half-open file, or semi-open file, is a Chess terminology#F with no pawn of one color. In the diagram, the e-file is a half-open file for White, and the d-file is a half-open file for Black....
, as in this case, the disadvantage is much larger, as it can be more easily attacked by an opponent's rook or queen on the c-file. Pieces can become weak when they are devoted to protecting a backward pawn because they are obligated to defend the pawn and cannot be developed for other uses.

Modern opening theory features several openings in which one of the players deliberately takes on a backward pawn in exchange for some other advantage such as the initiative or better development
Chess terminology

This page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. Some of these have their own pages, like Fork and Pin . For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific to chess problems, see chess problem terminology; for a list of chess related games, see chess variants....
. An excellent example is the Sveshnikov variation
Sicilian Defence

The Sicilian Defence is a chess chess opening that begins with the moves:The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4....
 of the Sicilian Defence
Sicilian Defence

The Sicilian Defence is a chess chess opening that begins with the moves:The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4....
. After the moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 (or 4...e5!? 5.Nb5 d6 - the Kalashnikov Variation) 5.Nc3 e5!? 6.Ndb5 d6 (Diagram above), Black has a backward pawn on d6, but White now has to endure a displacement of his knights and an undermining of his center after 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6! 10.Nd5 (dodging the threatened pawn-fork of the knights) 10...f5! [or 10...Bg7 11.c3 (facilitating the a3N's return to the center by the route Na3-c2-e3) 11...f5!] 11.c3 Bg7 etc.

See also

  • Pawn structure
    Pawn structure

    In chess, the pawn structure is the configuration of pawn on the chessboard. Since pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus largely determines the strategic nature of the position....
  • Doubled pawns
    Doubled pawns

    In chess, doubled pawns are two pawn s of the same color residing on the same Chess terminology#File. Pawns can become doubled only when one pawn captures onto a file on which another friendly pawn resides....
  • Isolated pawn
    Isolated pawn

    In chess, an isolated pawn is a pawn for which there is no friendly pawn on an adjacent Chess terminology#File. An isolated Queen 's pawn is often called an isolani....
  • Connected pawns
    Connected pawns

    In chess, connected pawns are two or more pawns of the same color on adjacent file , as distinct from isolated pawns. These pawns are instrumental in creating pawn structure because, when diagonally adjacent, like the two rightmost white pawns, they form a Glossary of chess#Pawn chain, a chain where the one behind protects the one in front....