Chess Patterns   ❯   Pawn Techniques   ❯   Pawn Race

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Pawn Race

Pawn Race

Pattern Card

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A Pawn Race occurs when both players advance their pawns rapidly, with the goal of promoting one to a Queen first. Pawn races require careful calculation of tempi, King position, and potential skewer or fork tactics after promotion. In the diagram above, White starts the race with 1.a6, and wins the game thanks to the alignment of White's and Black's promotion squares: 1...h3 2.a7 h2 3.a8=Q h1=Q 4.Qxh1

When starting a Pawn Race: (1) Calculate precisely how many moves it will take for each pawn to Queen, (2) Consider the role of the Kings in supporting pawns or blocking the opponent's. When in a Pawn Race: (1) Try slowing down the opponent's advance, if possible.

Master Pawn Races

While creating Chess With Cards, we watched many videos and read a lot of books. Here's our curated selection of the best resources we encountered on Pawn Races. We also included some smaller creators who are growing fast and we believe deserve your attention. Check out these resources if you want to master this endgame technique.

 
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