Chess for Newbies : Symmetric Benoni

The symmetric Benoni structure is one of my favourites, and it is one of the structures that motivated me to write this book. It often arises from Benoni variations in which White recaptures exd5 instead of cxd5, which yields the more typical Benoni position we studied in...

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Chess for Newbies : Asymmetric Benoni

The Asymmetric Benoni structure, usually called simply the Benoni, is a very tactical pawn structure that requires great precision from both sides. It typically arises from various Benoni openings, though it also appears in many variations of the Ruy Lopez. The main...

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Chess for Newbies : The Maroczy Bind

The Maroczy structure we study in this chapter bears a great similarity with the Hedgehog from the previous chapter. In fact, some sources may call that chapter's structure Maroczy as well, simply because White has placed his pawns on c4 and e4. In this book, I decided...

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The Hedgehog

The hedgehog structure is characterized by Black's pawns on a6-b6-d6-e6, covering some central squares and preventing White's forces from approaching, like a real hedgehog does! Advancing several adjacent pawns to the 3rd rank would generally be a bad decision. For...

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NajdorfType II

Just as in the previous chapter, I shall emphasize that this structure is not only typical of the Najdorf, but rather many other variations in the Sicilian, such as 1 .e4 c5 2.f3 c6 3.d4 d4 4.d4 e5 5.b5 d6. This structure is one of my favourites, as it provides a nice...

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NajdorfType I

The structure studied in this chapter is typical of many Open Sicilians. It arises after White trades pieces on d5, and recaptures with the e-pawn. This frequently occurs in the Najdorf variation, but I should emphasize it is not limited to this variation. For example,...

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Griinfeld Centre

The structure studied in this chapter typically arises from the Griinfeld Defence, and occasionally in the Nimzo-lndian Defence, in which case the e7-pawn will be on e6, but this does not affect the essence of the strategy. It rarely occurs with reversed colours...

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Stonewall

The Stonewall structure often arises from the Dutch Defence, the Slav or the Catalan, the first being the most common. It could also occur with reversed colours, but this is relatively rare. Of all the pawn structures we study in this book, the Stonewall has one of...

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The Carlsbad Formation

The Carlsbad, also known as the Orthodox Exchange formation, is a very well-known and thoroughly studied pawn structure. In fact, it is one of the few pawn structures which has received the attention other structures in this book deserve. The Carlsbad can be reached...

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Slav Formation

The Slav formation could very well also be called the Queen's Gambit Accepted formation, as it originates from Black capturing ... dxc4 in a Queen's Gambit position. This structure shares many common features with the Caro-Kann structure we studied in the previous...

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Caro-Kann Formation

The Caro-Kann formation often appears in the Caro-Kann Defence, the Scandinavian, and the Queen's Gambit Declined (though with the white pawn already on c4) after White plays e3- e4 and Black captures with ... d5xe4. This pawn trade has two major consequences: (1) White gains better control of the centre. (2) White has more space by having the...

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Introduction of Hanging Pawns

The 'hanging pawns' structure arises in many openings and is closely related to the isolani. In fact, most hanging pawns arise from an isolani position, in which Black trades his knight on d5 for White's knight on c3. Later, White is likely to advance c3-c4 yielding...

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Introduction of the Isolani

The isolated queen's pawn - referred to here as the isolani - is an extremely important pawn structure. It arises in many opening variations; the Queen's Gambit Accepted, Slav, Tarrasch Defence, Sicilian Alapin or French Tarrasch to name a few. This structure is equally...

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