Every Pawn is a potential Queen.
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[Event "rated untimed match"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "White player"]
[Black "Black player"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "David Hayes"]
[BlackElo "0"]
[FEN "r4rk1/p4pp1/1p2pn1p/8/3P3N/4R3/PP3PPP/R5K1 b - - 0 1"]
[SetUp "1"]
[TimeControl "0"]
[WhiteElo "0"]
{ Good, Bad, and Ugly Pawns.|White's isolated pawn becomes the focus of all
attention. White must use valuable pieces to protect the pawn which has no
other pawn to support it. Black will casually bring to bear intense pressure
to win the weakling on d4. } 1... Rfd8 2. Nf3 Rd5 3. Rd3 Rad8 4. Rad1 { White
over-protects his pawn to discourage black. } 4... Nd7 { The knight casually
maneuvers for c6. } 5. Kf1 { White may use his king to reinforce the d4
weakling. } 5... Nb8 6. Ke2 Nc6 { The pressure on the isolated pawn grows. } 7. a3 { Secures b4. White can do little more than patch the roof of his crumbling
house. } 7... f6 { Threatens a timely e5 break. } 8. h3 { White waits for black to
make a mistake. } 8... Kf7 ( { The immediate e5 leaves black with an undefendable
isolated pawn. } 8... e5 9. dxe5 Rxd3 10. Rxd3 Rxd3 11. Kxd3 Nxe5+ 12. Nxe5 fxe5 13. Ke4 ) 9. Rc3 { White offers his weakling on d4 for black's pawn on a7
after 26... Nxd4+ 27. Nxd4 Rxd4 28. Rxd4 Rxd4 29. Rc7+. The trade is not in
black's plan. } 9... R8d6 10. Rdd3 { White struggles to activate his pieces. Black's
plan is to eventually break though with his pawns on the king side dislodging
white's knight from its defensive position. } 10... Ke7 11. b4 { White has
miscalculated. } 11... Nxd4+ 12. Nxd4 Rxd4 13. Rxd4 Rxd4 14. Rc7+ Rd7 { Black's pawn
on a7 is safe. } 15. Rxd7+ Kxd7 16. Kd3 { White intends to:|1. Oppose all
attempts by black's king to invade either side's pawn mass where black may
win more of white's pawns,|2. Be alert for opportunities to force black
into zugzwang (the inability to make progress because the compulsion to move
will cause a disadvantage for the moving side), and|3. Watch the tactics. } 16... Kc6 { Black wants to play on the king side to take advantage of his pawn
majority where he can create a passed pawn. The passer will force white's
king into a defensive position. If necessary, black will then abandon the
king side passer and race to win the queen side pawns while white must expend
valuable moves or tempos disposing of black's king side passer. The queen
side pawns will then push to promotion.|To accomplish all this black must:
1. Prevent white's king from invading either side's pawn mass (possibly
winning black's pawns),|2. Avoid zugzwang, and|3. Watch the tactics. } 17. Kc4 b5+ 18. Kd4 e5+ 19. Ke4 g6 20. g4 Kd6 21. h4 Ke6 22. f3 f5+ 23. gxf5+ gxf5+ 24. Ke3 Kf6 25. Kf2 Kg6 26. Kg2 Kh5 27. Kg3 f4+ 28. Kh3 { Black is in
zugswang except for one important move that black has kept in reserve. } 28... a6 29. Kh2 Kxh4 30. Kg2 Kg5 31. Kh3 Kf5 32. Kg2 e4 33. fxe4+ Kxe4 34. Kf2 h5 35. Ke2 h4 36. Kf2 h3 { Black's outside passer is a monster. } 37. Kg1 Kf3 38. Kh2 Ke2 39. Kxh3 f3 40. Kh2 f2 41. Kg3 f1=Q { White wins with a large material
advantage. } *