Project approval after AI review on 2 November 2026. Human proofreading is still pending.
Lesson 27
The isolani
- What you will learn
- You recognise an isolated pawn, place a piece in front of it and protect your own with a piece.
- What you should already know
- How to blockade a pawn with a piece
- What doubled pawns are
- Lesson 17: A knight stops the pawn
- Lesson 26: Doubled pawns
Time: about 6 minutes
Thinking questions in this lesson
You can ask yourself these thinking questions in any position. They help you find a good move.
- What is the threat?
- Which pawn move changes the position?
- Which piece could be better placed?
Step 1 of 6
Look first
A model position from “My System”, from a game of Nimzowitsch’s from 1914. Look at the white pawns and the files to the left and right of them.
You are playing Black. Which white pawn has no white pawn on the files to its left and right?
Arrow keys move the focus across the squares. Enter or Space marks a square or removes the mark.
Choose a square from a list
Position as a list
White
- King g1
- Queen e2
- Rook a1
- Rook d1
- Bishop c4
- Bishop e3
- Knight c3
- Knight f3
- Pawn a2
- Pawn b2
- Pawn d4
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h2
Black
- King g8
- Queen d8
- Rook a8
- Rook f8
- Bishop b7
- Bishop e7
- Knight b4
- Knight f6
- Pawn a7
- Pawn b6
- Pawn e6
- Pawn f7
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h7
Step 2 of 6
Decide
A pawn with no pawns next to it is called isolated, or an isolani for short. An isolani has a weakness that your knight can use.
You are playing Black. Where do you move your knight from b4?
Arrow keys move the focus across the squares. Enter or Space selects a piece and moves it to a highlighted square. Escape cancels the selection.
Choose a move from a list
Position as a list
White
- King g1
- Queen e2
- Rook a1
- Rook d1
- Bishop c4
- Bishop e3
- Knight c3
- Knight f3
- Pawn a2
- Pawn b2
- Pawn d4
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h2
Black
- King g8
- Queen d8
- Rook a8
- Rook f8
- Bishop b7
- Bishop e7
- Knight b4
- Knight f6
- Pawn a7
- Pawn b6
- Pawn e6
- Pawn f7
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h7
Step 3 of 6
Try it
Now you have an isolani yourself: the same game, a few moves earlier. Nimzowitsch has White.
You are playing White. Your pawn on d4 is isolated, no pawn can protect it. Where do you put the bishop from c1 so that it protects d4?
Arrow keys move the focus across the squares. Enter or Space selects a piece and moves it to a highlighted square. Escape cancels the selection.
Choose a move from a list
Position as a list
White
- King g1
- Queen d1
- Rook a1
- Rook f1
- Bishop c1
- Bishop c4
- Knight c3
- Knight f3
- Pawn a2
- Pawn b2
- Pawn d4
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h2
Black
- King g8
- Queen d8
- Rook a8
- Rook f8
- Bishop c8
- Bishop e7
- Knight c6
- Knight f6
- Pawn a7
- Pawn b7
- Pawn e6
- Pawn f7
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h7
Step 4 of 6
Why does it work?
A pawn protects only diagonally forwards. If a pawn has no pawns next to it, no pawn can protect it. Nor can any pawn of its colour control the square in front of it.
That is why an enemy piece can stand there without a pawn driving it away, and it holds up the isolani.
Key idea
In front of an enemy isolani lies a strong square for your pieces. Your own isolani you protect with pieces.
When does this apply?
With many pieces on the board the isolani can be strong too: it gives its pieces room and can advance. It usually gets weaker the fewer pieces there are on the board.
Step 5 of 6
New position, same idea
An endgame between two world-class players: Rubinstein has White, Lasker Black.
You are playing Black. White has an isolani on d4. With which move do you use the square in front of it?
Arrow keys move the focus across the squares. Enter or Space selects a piece and moves it to a highlighted square. Escape cancels the selection.
Choose a move from a list
Position as a list
White
- King g2
- Queen d3
- Bishop b2
- Bishop f3
- Knight e4
- Pawn a2
- Pawn b3
- Pawn d4
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g3
- Pawn h3
Black
- King g8
- Queen c8
- Bishop b7
- Bishop e7
- Knight b6
- Pawn a6
- Pawn b5
- Pawn e6
- Pawn f7
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h6
Step 6 of 6
Nimzowitsch and today
Source
Nimzowitsch counts the isolated queen’s pawn among the cardinal problems of positional play: it is statically weak, he says, but full of dynamic energy. In the middlegame it is an instrument of attack; in the endgame it tends towards weakness, and not only the pawn itself but also the squares in front of it and beside it, such as d5, c4 and e4. He calls the square d5 Black’s key point: from there the blockade is carried out. White should build up solidly and support the isolani; he writes (our translation): “Be3 belongs to the pawn on d4 like the nurse to the baby!” That is: a bishop on e3 belongs with the pawn on d4 and protects it. The texts are newly written for the course; the positions come from Nimzowitsch – Taubenhaus, St Petersburg 1914 (diagram 162 is the position after 12…Nb4), and Rubinstein – Lasker, Moscow 1925.
- My System, part II, 3a (in German): “Der isolierte Damenbauer” (original text not yet published)
Today’s view (editorial note)
The isolani is still one of the big topics in chess today, and Nimzowitsch’s assessment essentially still holds: often strong with pieces on the board, often weak in the endgame. Whether it helps or harms is decided by the concrete position.