The skillful management of the pawns which form a phalanx before the King and the other pieces, is one of the most important items in the conduct of the game. Owing to the privilege of promotion to a Queen, or any other piece chosen, which the pawns possess when reaching the eighth square the loss of one of them is in the large majority of cases fatal among first-class masters. It is, moreover, now recognized among experts that not alone the weakness of one single pawn but also that of one single square into which any hostile man can be planted with commanding effect, will cause great trouble, and often the loss of the game, and that by proper management of the pawns such points of vantage need not be opened for the opponent.
The center pawns, namely, the e-pawn and d-pawn will have to be moved in the larger majority of openings sooner or later in order to free the pieces on each side, and they are not alone the best fitted for commencing operations, but we would lay it down as a rule that they are the only ones that ought to be moved in the early part of the game for various reasons.
In the first place, as long as the three pawns on each wing remain unmoved, there is no weak square or a "hole" on the side which takes that precaution. The latter term which is now generally accepted as a technical definition, was first used by the author in The International Chess Magazine of November 1886, where the disadvantage which it is intended to describe was also first pointed out, and it is most important for the learner fully to appreciate that disadvantage. The "hole" means a square on the third or forth row in front of a pawn after the two adjoining pawns have been moved or captured.
Thus, for instance, after the opening moves 1.e4 e5 2.c4 there are already two holes in White's camp, namely, one at d3 and one at d4. These holes will be all the more dangerous as long as the adverse e-pawn remains at e5 for that pawn stops the advance of two hostile ones and by skillful play Black will retain that advantage for a long time. If White's d-pawn is moved forward to d3 that pawn will be weak and even if he succeed in exchanging that pawn for another, the squares at d3 and d4 will remain weak, and White will have to guard against the entrance of hostile men on those squares with one or more pieces, since both the pawns that previously could afford protection against such entrance are advanced.
A hole or weak square are still more troublesome when the opponent is enabled to open the file on which they are situated for his Queens and Rooks. In the opening or middle part a hole or weak square are most dangerous in the center or on the Kingside before Queens are exchanged, but in the ending such weak points are generally more troublesome on the Queenside.
In the next place, it is a great advantage for the ending to have as many pawns as possible unmoved on their original squares, for it is often most important to be able to gain a move by having the option of pushing a pawn one or two squares. Furthermore, we have already explained that three unmoved pawns on the Kingside in conjunction with a minor piece form a strong bulwark against an attack on that wing, and we shall also show anon some reasons against moving the pawns on the other wing.
Staunton's Handbook, page 44, gives the following good advice: "It is generally advantageous for your pawns to occupy the middle of the board, because when there they greatly retard the movements of the opposing forces. The e-pawn and the d-pawn at their fourth squares are well posted, but it is not easy to maintain them in that position, and if you are driven to advance one of them, the power of both is much diminished."
To this we would add that in general two pawns are stronger abreast than on a diagonal. The former command two black squares and two white ones in front, while in the latter situation, one of the squares is occupied by a pawn and all the points covered are only of one color.
As a rule it is unadvisable to advance any pawn beyond the fourth square, for the further a pawn is advanced into the hostile camp the sooner he becomes liable to capture or inconvenient attack especially in the end. At the utmost a pawn may be sometime advanced to the fifth square when he can be well supported on each side by so-called chains of pawns that cannot be broken up, but it is very rarely good play to advance a pawn to his sixth square.
In the early part of the game the formation of a center such as two pawns abreast at e4 and d4 is a very desirable object, and in the Gambits of the Kingside the f-pawn is even sacrificed for that purpose. With the view of strengthening the center it is usually better to capture with a pawn toward the middle rather than toward the wing when the capture can be effected by two different pawns.
When both sides have moved 1.e4 e5 and have also castled on the Kingside, it will be often advantageous to allow the f-pawns to be doubled in order to form some attack on the open g-file, or else with the object of afterward dissolving the doubled pawn by advancing the pawn f3-f4. In like manner, the doubling of a pawn on the c-file may be useful in order to obtain command for the Queen's Rook on the open b-file and with the view of advancing c3-c4. But an isolated doubled pawn, especially one on the Rook's file, is mostly a great disadvantage.
Most particular care should be taken that the opponent does not obtain the majority of pawns on the Queenside, on the wing opposite on which the Kings of both parties usually castle. For a skillful player will generally manage to cut off the King from crossing to the other side, and the weaker pawns, thus deprived of the help of a powerful piece, will rarely be able to offer sufficient resistance to the opposite superiority of force. The majority of pawns on the Kingside is rarely of much use, for the pawns of that wing cannot well advance without exposing their own King, and in the ending the hostile King is near at hand for stopping them.
