While it’s true that pawns are generally regarded as the least powerful on a chessboard, their role within the game should not be so easily dismissed. In fact, in a game like chess, where strategy is paramount, the use of pawns is quite often key to success. Indeed, it’s all a matter of understanding the power of the pawn and using it to one’s advantage. As the great French player Francois-Andre Danican Philidor (1726-95) once said, “The pawns are the soul of chess.”
Keep ‘em Mobile
In chess, mobility equals power and for this reason, it’s not surprising that the pawn is deemed the weakest piece. Though there are eight per side, individual pawn power is limited by plodding forward movement and restricted capture ability. As a result, they may seem to be “in the way” of the real game.
However, pawns are somewhat deceptive in that regard. Though they may be weak as individual pieces, they have the potential to be much more when paired together or when working in combination with another piece. When playing chess, it’s important to keep in mind “pawn structure” for maximum effect. As a team or unit, pawns can indeed mobilize and make an impact.
Within the Rules
Rules dictate that a pawn can only move forward, one square at a time (with the exception of the opening move, which may be two squares). To capture a piece, a pawn can again only move one square – diagonally. Thus, across an 8x8 chessboard, the pawn is limited to the three squares directly in front of it. While this is clearly restrictive, the pawn’s power tends to increase as the endgame approaches. The fewer pieces on the board, the greater the pawn’s power.
In addition, when pawns are placed side by side, their power increases as well. Each pawn protects the other’s forward movement, as well as creates a barrier of sorts to the pieces behind them (e.g. the all-important king). Pawns also exert power at times by forcing other pieces to move around them, rather than through. Since mobility equals power in chess, the pawn’s ability to alter an opponent’s movement is most definitely part of its own power.
Speaking of which, a pawn is also the only piece on the board that can transform during a game. If a pawn makes it to the eighth rank – that is, the last row of the opposing side – then it can be “promoted” to any other piece, other than the king. This is called a “passed pawn” and the most common piece chosen is quite naturally, the most powerful: the queen. As writer James Mason (1849-1905) rightly observed, “Every pawn is a potential Queen.”
Pawn Potential
And there, in a nutshell, is the power of the pawn: There’s more to it than meets the eye. This is not to say of course that pawns are equal in power to that of the queen or rook, only that the pawn can be more useful than one may think. The key to their power rests with their numbers and the strategic use of them during a game. Indeed, no pieces on a chessboard are expendable, including the dutiful pawn.
“The older I grow, the more I value pawns.” (Paul Keres, 1916-75)
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