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A "positional draw" is a concept most commonly used in endgame studies and describes an impasse other than stalemate. It usually involves the repetition of moves in which neither side can make progress or safely deviate. Typically a advantage is balanced by a positional advantage. Fortresses and perpetual check are examples of positional draws . Sometimes they salvage a draw from a position that seems hopeless because of a material deficit . Grandmaster John Nunn describes a positional draw as a position in which one side has enough material to normally win and he is not under direct attack, but some special feature of the position (often a blockade) prevents him from winning .
A simple example is shown in the game between Lajos Portisch and Lubomir Kavalek. White could have won easily with 1.Be1 Kc6 2.b4. However, play continued 1. b4? Nb8 2. b5 Nc6+! The only way to avoid the threatened 3...Nxa5 is 3.bxc6 Kxc6, but the resultant position is a draw because the bishop is on the wrong color to be able to force the promotion (see above, wrong bishop, and wrong rook pawn) .
Luděk Pachman cites the endgame position in the diagram as a simple example of a positional draw. White on move simply plays waiting moves with the bishop (Bb1–c2–d3). As for Black, "If he is unwilling to allow the transition to the drawn ending of Rook versus Bishop, nothing else remains for him but to move his Rook at [e5] continuously up and down the [e-file]." Pachman explains, "The indecisive result here contradicts the principles concerning the value of the pieces and is caused by the bad position of the black pieces (pinned rook at [e4])." .
This position from a game between Mikhail Botvinnik and Paul Keres in the 1951 USSR Championship is drawn because the black king cannot get free and the rook must stay on the c-. The players agreed to a draw four moves later .
The first diagram shows a position from a game between former World Champion Mikhail Tal and future World Champion Bobby Fischer from the 1962 Candidates Tournament in Curaçao. After 41 moves Tal had the advantage but Fischer sacrificed the exchange (a rook for a knight). The game was drawn on the 58th move .
In this position from a game between Pal Benko and International Master Jay Bonin, White realized that the blockade cannot be broken and the game is a draw despite the extra material .
Can White stop the h-pawn from queening? The position looks lost for White but he does have a defence which seems to defy the rules of logic. White will calmly construct a "fortress" which will hide his pieces from attack. The only weakness in White's "fortress" is the g-pawn. This pawn has to be defended by the bishop and the only square where this can be done safely is from h6.
White threatens to stop the advance of the h-pawn with ...Be5+;
building the fortress immediately does not work: 1.f6? h2 2.Kf8 h1=Q 3.Kg7 (3.Kg8 Qg2 4.Bf8 Qa8 5.Kg7 Kd7 6.Kg8 Ke6 7.Kg7 Kf5 8.Kg8 Bb3 9.Kg7 Qh1−+) 3...Kd7 4.Bb4 Ke6 5.Bd2 Kf5 6.Be3 Qf3 7.Bd2 Qe2 8.Bc1 Qd1 9.Be3 Qd3 10.Bc1 Qc3−+;
2.fxg6? This move destroys the fortress 2...fxg6 3.Be7+ Kc6−+. Chess computer programs have difficulty assessing "fortress" positions because the normal values for the pieces do not apply.
White can draw in another way without the need of a "fortress": 3.fxg6 fxg6 4.Bd8 Kd6 5.Nf6! h2 6.Ne4+ Ke6 7.Nf2 Bd5 8.Bf6 h1=Q 9.Nxh1 Bxh1=;
White has achieved the closing of the long diagonal a8–h1. The only way to avoid this would be for Black to repeat moves. Now White can build his "fortress" without the worry of the queen getting to the back rank via the long diagonal.
5. f6! h2 6. Bf8! h1=Q 7. Bh6!
with the idea of 8.Kf8 and 9.Kg7. White will be safe behind the barrier of pawns. It is a positional draw.
In chess, luft (the German word for "air", sometimes also "space" or "breath") designates the space or square left by a pawn move into which a king (usually a castled one) may then retreat, especially such a space made intentionally to avoid back-rank checkmate. A move leaving such a space is often said to "give the king some luft". The term "luft", "lufting", or "lufted" may also be used (as an English participle) to refer to the movement of the relevant pawn creating luft.
Preventing an opponent from lufting a pawn (for example by pinning it or moving a piece to the square in front of it) is a tactic that may lead to checkmate. A king's access to his luft might also be denied by the opponent subjecting the space or square to attack.
The German "luft" is a close cognate to the English "lift", which is also used in chess, e.g., .
In the diagram, "X"s mark "luft" to which the king can escape back-rank checkmate delivered by the queen. Theoretical enemy knights in the indicated positions deny the king access to his "luft". Black dots indicate areas where threats emanating from enemy pieces capable of capturing diagonally could also deny access. The pawn structure seen in Black's position is , but it is a risk commonly accepted to fianchetto.
Being up a queen, Black will win unless he overlooks the threat of Ng6 (which sets up checkmate via Rh8#). Black wouldn't be able to capture the knight or create luft because his f-pawn is pinned by White's bishop, and his g-pawn cannot advance if a piece is on g6 blockading it. White's king is temporarily safe from check in his luft. (Black can neutralize the threat of Ng6 by playing Qb8, as then Ng6 can be met by the discovered check of Nf5+, winning the checkmate-threatening h4 rook after White reacts.)
An outpost is a square on the fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh which is protected by a pawn and which cannot be attacked by an opponent's pawn. Such a square is a hole for the opponent . In the figure to the right, c4 is an outpost, occupied by White's knight. It cannot be attacked by Black's pawns – there is no pawn on the d- and Black's pawn on the b-file is too far advanced.
Outposts are a favourable position from which one can launch an attack, particularly using a [[Knight (chess)|knight]]. It is usually a good idea to post knights on opposite color of the opponent's single bishop, other things being equal.
Knights are most efficient when they are close to the enemy's stronghold. This is because of their short reach, something not true of [[Bishop (chess)|bishops]], [[rook (chess)|rooks]] and [[queen (chess)|queens]]. They are also more effective in the centre of the board than on the edges. Therefore, the ideal to be aimed at is an outpost in one of the central (c-, d-, e- or f-) files in an advanced position (e.g. the sixth rank) with a knight. Knowledge of outposts and their effectiveness is crucial in exploiting situations involving an [[Isolated pawn|isolated queen's pawn]].
On the other hand, [[Aron Nimzowitsch|Nimzowitsch]] argued when the outpost is in one of the flank (a-, b-, g- and h-) files the ideal piece to make use of the outpost is a rook. This is because the rook can put pressure on all the squares along the rank.
In chess, connected pawns are two or more pawns of the same color on adjacent , 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 , a chain where the one behind protects the one in front. When attacking these chains, the weak spot is the backmost pawn, because it is not protected .
Connected pawns that are both passed, i.e., without any enemy pawns in front of them on the same file or adjacent files, are referred to as connected passed pawns. Such pawns can be very strong in the endgame, especially if supported by other pieces. Often the opponent must sacrifice to prevent one of the pawns from promoting.
Connected passed pawns are usually superior to other passed pawns. An exception is in an opposite-colored bishops endgame with a bishop and two pawns versus a bishop on the opposite color. If the pawns are connected and not beyond their fifth , the position is a theoretical draw whereas widely separated pawns would win.
Two connected pawns on the same without any friendly pawns on adjacent files are called .
There is a saying that two connected passed pawns on the sixth are stronger than a rook. This is true if the other side has nothing but a rook to defend against the pawns (and the defender cannot immediately capture one of the pawns). In this diagram, White wins:
A pawn storm is a chess strategy in which several pawns are moved in rapid succession toward the opponent's defenses.
A pawn storm usually involves adjacent pawns on one side of the board, the (a-, b-, and c-) or the (f-, g-, and h-files).
A pawn storm will often be directed toward the opponent's king after it has castled toward one side (e.g. Fischer–Larsen, 1958). Successive advances of the pawns on that side might rapidly cramp and overwhelm the opponent's position.
A pawn storm might also be directed at queening a passed pawn; the diagram is taken from a game in which Tigran Petrosian was playing the black pieces against Bobby Fischer. Over the next fourteen moves, Petrosian storms his twin pawns down the a- and b- files, forcing Fischer's .
In chess, the pawn structure (sometimes known as the pawn skeleton) is the configuration of pawns 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.
Weaknesses in the pawn structure, such as isolated, doubled, or backward pawns and , once created, are usually permanent. Care must therefore be taken to avoid them (but there are exceptions—for instance see "Boleslavsky hole" below). In the absence of these structural weaknesses, it is not possible to assess a pawn formation as good or bad—much depends on the position of the pieces. The pawn formation does determine the overall strategies of the players to a large extent, however, even if arising from unrelated openings. Pawn formations symmetrical about a vertical line (such as the "e5 Chain" and the "d5 Chain") may appear similar, but they tend to have entirely different characteristics because of the propensity of the kings to castle on the .
Pawn structures often transpose into one another, such as the "Isolani" into the "Hanging pawns", and vice versa. Such transpositions must be considered carefully and often mark shifts in game strategy.
In his 1995 book "Pawn Structure Chess", Andrew Soltis classified the major pawn formations into 17 categories. In 2015, the book "Chess Structures", by Mauricio Flores Rios, further studied the subject, subdividing pawn structures into the 28 most important. For a formation to fall into a particular category, it need not have a pawn position identical to the corresponding diagram, but only close enough that the character of the game and the major themes are unchanged. It is typically the whose position influences the nature of the game the most.
Structures with mutually attacking pawns are said to have "tension". They are ordinarily unstable and tend to transpose into a stable formation with a pawn or exchange. Play often revolves around making the transposition happen under favorable circumstances. For instance, in the Queen's Gambit Declined, Black waits until White the to make the d5xc4 capture, transposing to the Slav formation (see below).
Openings: Primary: Caro–Kann. Other: French, Scandinavian, Trompowsky (colors reversed), Alekhine's.
Themes for White: Outpost on e5, kingside advantage, d4–d5 break, possibility of in the endgame (typically after the exchange of White's d-pawn for Black's c-pawn).
Themes for Black: Weakness of the d4-pawn, ...c6–c5 and ...e6–e5 breaks. The latter break is usually preferable, but harder for Black to achieve.
Openings: Primary: Slav. Other: Catalan, Queen's Gambit Accepted, Queen's Gambit Declined, Nimzo-Indian, Colle System (with colors reversed), London System (with colors reversed), Trompowsky (colors reversed).
Themes for White: Pressure on the c-file, weakness of Black's c-pawn (either after Black's ...b7–b5 or after d4–d5xc6 in response to ...e6–e5), the d4–d5 break.
Themes for Black: e6–e5 and c6–c5 breaks.
Openings: Primary: Sicilian (Najdorf, Richter–Rauzer and Sozin variations), Sicilian Scheveningen, and several other Sicilian variations. Other: King's English (colors reversed).
Themes for White: Pressure on the d-file, space advantage, e4–e5 break (often prepared with f2–f4), f2–f4–f5 push, g2–g4–g5 blitz (see Keres Attack).
Themes for Black: Pressure on the c-file, (and counterplay in general) on the queenside, pressure on White's pawn on e4 or e5, d6–d5 break, e6–e5 transposing into the Boleslavsky hole (see below).
It is often unwise for White to exchange a piece on c6 allowing the recapture bxc6, because the phalanx of Black's center pawns becomes very strong.
Openings: Primary: Sicilian Dragon. Other: (with colors reversed).
Character: Either a razor sharp middlegame with opposite side castling or a moderately sharp game with same side castling. The Sicilian Dragon requires a high level of opening memorization to play properly. This is especially true when it comes to the Yugoslav Attack in which White plays the moves Be3, f3, Qd2 and 0-0-0. Other variations include the following: the Classical Dragon, where White plays Be2 and 0-0; the Tal Attack, defined by Bc4 and 0-0; and the Fianchetto Defense, where White plays g3, Bg2 and 0-0. These less common variations lead to less tactical positions, with a potentially technical endgame.
Themes for White: Outpost on d5, kingside attack (either f2–f4–f5 with kingside castling or h2–h4–h5 with queenside castling), weakness of Black's queenside pawn in the endgame.
Themes for Black: Pressure on the long diagonal, queenside counterplay, exploiting White's often overextended kingside pawns in the endgame.
Opening Lines: The most common variation of the Sicilian Dragon is the Yugoslav Attack. 1. e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 (the defining move of the Yugoslav attack) 6... Bg7 7. Qd2 0-0 8. f3 (necessary to prevent Black from playing 8...Ng4 to attack White's dark-squared bishop; 8.f3 also gives e4 extra defense and prepares to launch a pawn storm with the move g4) 8... Nc6 9. 0-0-0 (9.Bc4 is also a very common move in this position) 9... d5 (the main line; other ideas include 9...Nxd4 and 9...Bd7).
Openings: Primary: Sicilian Najdorf, Classical, Sveshnikov, Kalashnikov. Other: Sicilian Prins, Moscow, O'Kelly (2... a6), (with colors reversed).
Themes for White: taking control the d5 , exploiting the backward d6-pawn, f2–f4 break.
Themes for Black: d6–d5 break, queenside minority attack, the c4-square.
It is a paradoxical idea that Black can strive for equality by voluntarily creating a hole on d5. The entire game revolves around control of the d5-square. Black must play very carefully or White will place a knight on d5 and obtain a commanding positional advantage. Black almost always equalizes, and might even obtain a slight edge, if the d6–d5 break can be made. Black has two options for their : on e6 and on b7 (after ...a7–a6 and ...b7–b5). Unusually for an open formation, bishops become inferior to knights because of the overarching importance of d5: White will often exchange Bg5xf6, and Black usually prefers to give up their queen's bishop rather than a knight in exchange for a white knight if it gets to d5.
When White castles queenside, Black often delays castling because their king is quite safe in the .
Openings: Primary: Sicilian, King's Indian Defence. Other: Symmetrical English, King's English (with colors reversed), Queen's Indian Defence, Nimzo-Indian Defence.
Themes for White: Nd4–c2–e3, fianchettoing one or both bishops, the Maróczy hop (Nc3–d5 followed by e4xd5 with terrific pressure on the e-file), kingside attack, c4–c5 and e4–e5 breaks.
Themes for Black: b7–b5 break, f7–f5 break (especially with a fianchettoed king's bishop), d6–d5 break (prepared with ...e7–e6).
The Maróczy bind, named after Géza Maróczy, has a fearsome reputation. Chess masters once believed that allowing the bind was a mistake as Black always gave White a significant advantage. Indeed, if Black does not quickly make a , their will , with minor pieces lacking any squares to move to and possibly becoming cornered or pressed into a weak defense. Conversely, the formation takes time to set up and limits the activity of White's light-squared bishop, which can buy Black some breathing room to accomplish this break.
Openings: Primary: Symmetrical English, Sicilian. Other: King's English (with colors reversed), King's Indian Defence (Sämisch), Queen's Indian Defense, Nimzo-Indian Defence.
The Hedgehog is a formation similar to the Maróczy bind, and shares the strategic ideas with that formation. Typically, the Maróczy bind would transpose into the Hedgehog formation.
Openings: Primary: King's Indian, Old Indian (colors reversed), Ruy Lopez, Italian Game. Other: Ruy Lopez (colors reversed), Italian Game (colors reversed), Sicilian Kramnik. The notation in the rest of this section refers to the colors reversed version.
Themes for White: d6 weakness, c4–c5 push, a3–f8 diagonal, queenside pawn storm.
Themes for Black: d4 weakness, a1–h8 diagonal, f4-square, kingside attack, trading pieces for a superior endgame.
The Rauzer formation is named after Rauzer who introduced it in the Ruy Lopez. It can also rarely occur in the Ruy Lopez with colors reversed.
It is considered to give Black excellent chances because d6 is much less of a hole than White's d4. If the black king's bishop is fianchettoed it is common to see it undeveloped to f8 to control the vital c5- and d6-squares, or remove White's dark-squared bishop, the guardian of the hole.
The Rauzer formation is often misjudged by beginners. In the position on the left, White appears to have a development lead while Black's position appears to be riddled with holes. In reality, it is Black who stands clearly better, because White has no real way to improve their position while Black can improve by exploiting the d4-square (see complete game on Java (Applet) board).
Openings: Primary: King's Indian. Other: English, Pirc, Ruy Lopez, Philidor, Italian Game.
Occurs after exchange of pawns on d4. Name given by Hans Kmoch.
Themes for White: exploitation of d6 weakness, e4–e5 and c4–c5 breaks, minority attack with ...b2–b4–b5.
Themes for Black: attacking the e4- and c4-pawns, d6–d5 and f7–f5 breaks, queenside play with ...a7–a5–a4.
The wall is yet another structure that leaves Black with a d-pawn weakness, but prevents White from taking control of the center and gives Black active piece play and an opportunity to play on either side of the board.
Openings: Primary: King's Indian, Pirc, Philidor. Other: Benoni, Ruy Lopez (Spanish), Trompowsky, English, Italian Game, Four Knights Game (Scotch variation)
Character: Closed game with opposite side activity.
Themes for White: Massive queenside space advantage, c2–c4–c5 break (optionally prepared with b2–b4), prophylaxis with ...g2–g4 (after f2–f3), f2–f4 break.
Themes for Black: kingside attack, f7–f5 break, g7–g5–g4 break (after f2–f3), c7–c6 break, prophylaxis with ...c6–c5 or ...c7–c5 transposing to a full Benoni formation.
The chain arises from a variety of openings but most commonly in the heavily analyzed King's Indian Classical variation. The theme is a race for a breakthrough on opposite flanks – Black must try to whip up a kingside attack before White's penetrate with devastating effect on the c-file. The position was thought to strongly favor White until a seminal game (Taimanov–Najdorf 1953) where Black introduced the maneuver ...Rf8–f7, ...Bg7–f8, ...Rf7–g7. When the chain arises in the Ruy Lopez, play is much slower with tempo being of little value and featuring piece maneuvering by both sides, Black focusing on the c7–c6 break and White often trying to play on the kingside with the f2–f4 break.
Openings: Primary: French. Other: Nimzowitsch, Trompowsky, Caro–Kann, Bogo-Indian, London System, Colle System, Sicilian (Rossolimo, Alapin, Closed, O'Kelly), Nimzo–Larsen Attack (colors reversed).
Themes for White: kingside mating attack, f2–f4–f5 break.
Themes for Black: Exchanging the hemmed-in queen's bishop, c7–c5 and f7–f6 breaks.
Due to White's kingside space advantage and development advantage, Black must generate counterplay or be mated. Novices often lose to the sparkling Greek gift sacrifice. Attacking the head of the pawn chain with ...f7–f6 is seen as frequently as attacking its base, because it is harder for White to defend the head of the chain than in the d5 chain. In response to exf6, Black accepts a backward e6-pawn in exchange for freeing their position (the b8–h2 diagonal and the semi-open f-file) and the possibility of a further e6–e5 break. If White exchanges with d4xc5 it is called the Wedge formation. White gets an outpost on d4 and the possibility of exploiting the dark squares while Black gets an overextended e5 pawn to work on.
Openings: Primary: Modern Benoni, Queen's Indian Defence, King's Indian Defence Modern Defence, Ruy Lopez, Italian Game. Other: Trompowsky, Ruy Lopez (colors reversed), Italian Game (colors reversed), Réti Opening (colors reversed), King's Indian Attack (colors reversed), Sicilian Defence (Moscow, Rossolimo).
Themes for White: Central pawn majority, e4–e5 break.
Openings: Primary: Giuoco Piano. Other: French (Steiner, Exchange), Ruy Lopez (Berlin), Petrov, King's English, French (colors reversed), Sicilian Alapin (colors reversed).
Themes for Black: Blockading the isolani, trading pieces for a favorable endgame.
Openings: Primary: Queen's Gambit. Other: French, Sicilian Alapin, Symmetrical English, Caro–Kann, Nimzo-Indian, Slav.
Themes for White: d4–d5 break, sacrifice of the isolani, outpost on e5, kingside attack.
The isolani leads to lively play revolving around the d5-square. If Black can clamp down on the pawn, their positional strengths and threat of exchanges give them the advantage. If not, the threat of the d4–d5 break is ever-present, and the isolani can sometimes be sacrificed to unleash the potential of White's pieces, enabling White to whip up a whirlwind attack. Garry Kasparov is famous for the speculative d4–d5 sacrifice.
Openings: Primary: Queen's Gambit Declined. Other: Queen's Indian Defense, Symmetrical English, Sicilian (Alapin).
Themes for White: Line opening advance in the center, kingside attack.
Themes for Black: Forcing a pawn advance and blockading the pair, conversion to isolani.
Like the isolani, the are a structural weakness but with them usually comes increased piece activity to compensate. The play revolves around Black trying to force one of the pawns to advance. If Black can establish a permanent blockade the game is positionally won. On the other hand, White aims to keep the pawns hanging, trying to generate a kingside attack leveraging off of their superior center control. Other themes for White include tactical possibilities and line opening breaks in the center.
Openings: Primary: Queen's Gambit Declined. Other: Caro–Kann (colors reversed), Colle System (colors reversed), London System (colors reversed).
Themes for White: Minority attack, e3–e4 break.
Themes for Black: e4 outpost, kingside attack.
Openings: Primary: Queen's Gambit Declined, Caro–Kann. Other: Alekhine Defense, QGD Tarrasch Defense (colors reversed), Symmetrical English, Symmetrical English (colors reversed).
Themes for White: Exploiting the dark squares, d6 outpost; queenside majority in the endgame, with an advanced pawn.
Themes for Black: e4 outpost, kingside attack, White's overextended pawn, e6–e5 and b7–b5 breaks.