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Estate News At first sight everything looks equal. If we add up the value

Chess by of the White and Black pieces, we will find out that both sides

have two castles, a queen and seven pawns. Neither side has
a material advantage.
1. The first step is to assess who has the material advantage.
2. The next step is to look for strengths for both Black and White.
a. The mobility of White’s pieces is blocked by the pawn
structure – there are no open files that rooks (castles) can
occupy. There is also little chance to open a file as that
would result in creating weaknesses in White’s position.
b. The position for Black is also blocked and the bishop
has very little mobility, in fact it can only move to h6 if
here are many kinds of chess players. There are several attacked by h4.
main types of chess players that chess masters and 3. The next step is to examine the pawn structure. There
Texperts have identified. are a number of holes squares that can be protected by
Chess players can be classified into the following main pawns d5 and d6. The hole on d6 is particularly weak and
groups: if White can place his knight there, then he would have a
Wood pushers or patzers, who move the chess pieces considerable advantage. The problem is how to get the
around the board without any apparent plan. They are weak knight there?
both tactically and strategically. They often fall into obvious 4. Planning: Getting the knight to d6! The sequence
traps and leave pieces ‘en prise’ (pieces that are not protected nb1 –>a3 –>c4 –>d6 is the way to get the knight to d6.
and can be captured by enemy pieces). Patzers are weak players There is little or nothing that Black can do about this. If
who play quickly and automatically. This type is typical of the Black swops the bishop for the knight on d6 then White has
beginner. Chess is a game that cannot be played quickly. The a protected pass pawn on d6 and Black’s game becomes
quicker you play the more liable you are to make mistakes. even more cramped for space.
Another type of chess player is the kibitzer. This player has 5. The next step is to assess the position once the knight has
little learning and often is a spectator who is usually the one reached d6. Problem? Where can White now break through
who offers (often unwanted) advice or commentary about the to add more pressure on Black’s position? The answer is
game that is being played. When the kibitzer plays, an irritating relatively simple: Black can break through on the queen
running commentary usually takes place. side by moving the rook to b1 and advancing the b pawn,
There is another group of players, the strategic players. thus opening the b file onto the backward pawn on b7.
These players usually have a good understanding of the game
and, like doctors, are able to evaluate the position on the chess What is meant by pawn structure? The pawn structure,
board easily. They are able to tell if their position is ‘sick’ or put very simply, is the way the pawns are located (positioned)
‘good’. Furthermore, they know how to improve the position on the chess board. The pawn structure is largely determined
to their advantage. In other words, they play good positional by the opening one plays. Different openings give rise
chess by having the ability to plan their game. to different pawn structures. The pawn structure is what
remains if you remove all the other pieces from the board.
The critical question is, just how is it done? See the example below:
The first step is to be able to evaluate the position on the
chess board. On the internet there are many examples of how
this can be done. Let us examine an actual example of Botvinnik
playing White against Flohr in 1936.

The positional chess player must have a knowledge of
different pawn structures in order to assess which positions are
weak (sick) and which are good.

12 • Issue 8 2020 • The Villager