Project approval after AI review on 2 November 2026. Human proofreading is still pending.
Lesson 20
Pawns help each other
- What you will learn
- You recognise the base and the tip of a pawn chain and attack the chain at its base.
- What you should already know
- How pawns move and capture
- What a blockade is
- Lesson 17: A knight stops the pawn
Time: about 5 minutes
Thinking questions in this lesson
You can ask yourself these thinking questions in any position. They help you find a good move.
- Which pawn move changes the position?
Step 1 of 6
Look first
After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 the white pawns on d4 and e5 stand diagonally one behind the other. In front of each stands a black pawn.
Such a diagonal line is called a pawn chain. One pawn of the chain protects the other.
Tap the white pawn of the chain that protects the other one.
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 e1
- Queen d1
- Rook a1
- Rook h1
- Bishop c1
- Bishop f1
- Knight b1
- Knight g1
- Pawn a2
- Pawn b2
- Pawn c2
- Pawn d4
- Pawn e5
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h2
Black
- King e8
- Queen d8
- Rook a8
- Rook h8
- Bishop c8
- Bishop f8
- Knight b8
- Knight g8
- Pawn a7
- Pawn b7
- Pawn c7
- Pawn d5
- Pawn e6
- Pawn f7
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h7
Step 2 of 6
Decide
The white chain blocks the way forward for your pawns on d5 and e6.
The white chain cramps your pawns. How do you attack 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.
Position as a list
White
- King e1
- Queen d1
- Rook a1
- Rook h1
- Bishop c1
- Bishop f1
- Knight b1
- Knight g1
- Pawn a2
- Pawn b2
- Pawn c2
- Pawn d4
- Pawn e5
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h2
Black
- King e8
- Queen d8
- Rook a8
- Rook h8
- Bishop c8
- Bishop f8
- Knight b8
- Knight g8
- Pawn a7
- Pawn b7
- Pawn c7
- Pawn d5
- Pawn e6
- Pawn f7
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h7
Step 3 of 6
Try it
Attack the base of the white chain with a pawn.
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 e1
- Queen d1
- Rook a1
- Rook h1
- Bishop c1
- Bishop f1
- Knight b1
- Knight g1
- Pawn a2
- Pawn b2
- Pawn c2
- Pawn d4
- Pawn e5
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h2
Black
- King e8
- Queen d8
- Rook a8
- Rook h8
- Bishop c8
- Bishop f8
- Knight b8
- Knight g8
- Pawn a7
- Pawn b7
- Pawn c7
- Pawn d5
- Pawn e6
- Pawn f7
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h7
Step 4 of 6
Why does it work?
The base carries the whole chain. If it falls, the next pawn has no pawn protection any more, here the tip on e5.
Nimzowitsch compares the chain with a house: whoever wants to bring it down starts with the foundations and not with the decoration. Seen from White’s side, d4 is the foundation right at the back, e5 the decoration right at the front.
If you only attack the tip, the base stays and keeps supporting.
Key idea
If a pawn chain cramps you, attack it at its base, best of all with a pawn.
When does this apply?
The base is the pawn of the chain that no other chain pawn protects. If it is well protected by another pawn, you need pieces to help with the attack.
Step 5 of 6
New position, same idea
Here the white chain is longer. Only pawns with a black pawn in front of them belong to the chain.
A longer chain. Attack its base with a pawn.
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
- Rook b1
- Knight f3
- Pawn b2
- Pawn c3
- Pawn d4
- Pawn e5
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h2
Black
- King g8
- Rook b8
- Knight c6
- Pawn b5
- Pawn c4
- Pawn d5
- Pawn e6
- Pawn f7
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h7
Step 6 of 6
Nimzowitsch and today
Source
Nimzowitsch calls the lowest pawn of a chain (seen from White, the one furthest back), on which all the others rest, the base. A chain, he says, is attacked first at its base, and with a pawn: after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5, 3…c5 is right, by no means 3…f6. Whoever wants to blow up a building starts with the foundations and not with the ornaments. Once the base has fallen, it is the new base’s turn. The aim is to make your own cramped pawns mobile again: in his example Black finally plays …e6–e5. The texts are newly written for the course; the transfer position is based on a diagram from 9.3, with kings, pieces and further pawns added.
- My System, chapter 9 (in German): “Die Bauernkette” (original text not yet published)
- My System, 9.1 (in German): “Allgemeines und Definitionen. Die Basis der Bauernkette” (original text not yet published)
- My System, 9.3 (in German): “Der Angriff gegen die Basis als strategische Notwendigkeit” (original text not yet published)
Today’s view (editorial note)
Today too, in this position of the French Defence, Black usually attacks with 3…c5. White then often supports the base with c2–c3. If d4 is well protected, Black later often attacks the tip with …f6 as well.