Pawn majority: more pawns on one side

In short

Count the pawns on each wing. Even after the first pawn exchange in the centre, each side often has more pawns than the other somewhere. White then has, for example, four against three on the kingside, and Black has more on the queenside.

According to Nimzowitsch, every healthy majority can create a passed pawn. Healthy means that the pawns of the majority are not weakened. The candidate goes first, and the other pawns accompany it. The article on the passed pawn explains more about this.

You defend against an enemy majority in steps. First you hinder it: you control the squares its candidate wants to move to. If the candidate is left behind, you can blockade it. For Nimzowitsch, hindering is the beginning and the blockade is the goal.

In “My System” he describes the basic form of this restraint. You need an open file and two possible blockading squares. If one enemy pawn advances, you blockade it on one square. If the other advances, you stop it on the second square.

Start with lesson 31 on the candidate, then lessons 32 and 34 follow. In Nimzowitsch – Brinckmann, each side has more pawns on a different part of the board. In te Kolste – Nimzowitsch, a companion clears the way for the candidate.

Summarised by the editors in their own words. This is not a quotation.

The majority in the centre

A majority in the centre is especially dangerous. It threatens not only a passed pawn but also an attack on the king. A far-advanced pawn can push itself like a wedge in front of the castled king. Then the defender’s rooks can no longer reach their pawns on the kingside.

That is why Nimzowitsch recommends holding its pawns early. They should get no further than the fourth rank, counted from their owner’s side. If you let them advance further, defending becomes hard.

The qualitative majority

A majority does not have to consist of more pawns. If your pawns on a wing stand further forward than your opponent’s, they work like an extra pawn. Nimzowitsch then speaks of a qualitative or virtual majority.

You should recognise and restrain such a majority early too. Nimzowitsch did exactly that in his game against Bernstein; you can replay it in lesson 34.

Today’s view

A mobile majority is still regarded as a strong weapon today, especially in the centre. Whether it can be slowed down or blockaded depends on the concrete position. Nimzowitsch’s steps from hindering to blockade are a good first guide here.

Where to find it in Nimzowitsch

• My System: I. Teil, 4.1 Zur Orientierung. Der in mancher Beziehung störende Nachbar und das in jeder Beziehung unangenehme Gegenüber. Die Bauernmehrheit. Der Kandidat. Die Geburt des Freibauern. Die Regel vom Kandidaten. (original text)

  What a pawn majority is, how it arises after the first exchange in the centre, and the rule that every healthy majority can create a passed pawn.

• My System: II. Teil, 2.4 Die Ur-Zelle der gegen eine Bauernmehrheit gerichteten Hemmungsaktion wird in Reinkultur vorgeführt - Der Kampf gegen eine Zentralmehrheit - Die qualitative Mehrheit. original text not yet published

  The basic form of restraint against a majority, with an open file and two blockading squares, the fight against a majority in the centre, and the qualitative majority.

• The Blockade: Abschnitt VII original text not yet published

  Defending against a majority: pressure on the candidate until it is left behind and can be blockaded.

• The Blockade: Abschnitt VIII original text not yet published

  The majority in the centre threatens a passed pawn and a wedge against the king; its pawns should be held as early as the fourth rank.

• The Blockade: Abschnitt IX original text not yet published

  Against any majority, hindering is the first step and the blockade is the goal.

• The Blockade: Abschnitt XIII original text not yet published

  The qualitative majority in the game against Bernstein and how Nimzowitsch restrains it.

In the course

• The candidate goes first
• The majority in the centre
• Restraining in time
• Nimzowitsch – Brinckmann, Kolding 1923
• te Kolste – Nimzowitsch, Baden-Baden 1925