Pawn breakthrough: three against three

About this endgame

Three white pawns on a5, b5 and c5 stare at three black pawns on a7, b7 and c7. Both kings are far away, on g1 and g8, and it looks as if nothing can happen. White to move makes a queen by force with two pawn sacrifices. Eight moves to do it.

What you will learn

• 01 Why the middle pawn goes first, and what it attacks.
• 02 How the second sacrifice depends on which black pawn captured.
• 03 How to check that the enemy king is too far away to catch the last pawn.

The breakthrough

Start with b6. The pawn attacks a7 and c7 at once, and if Black ignores it, bxa7 or bxc7 is followed by a queen. So Black captures. After axb6 play c6: if bxc6, the a-pawn runs a6, a7, a8, and if Black leaves the pawn alone, cxb7 is just as fast. After cxb6 the mirror move a6 does the same job, and after bxa6 the c-pawn walks c6, c7, c8.

The sacrifices only work because the black king is far away. From g8 it needs four moves just to reach c8, and by then a pawn is promoting. Move the black king a few squares closer and the count changes, so count every time you see this pattern. Starting with a6 or c6 is the classic mistake: Black takes with the b-pawn and the breakthrough no longer works by force.

Your own king plays no part here. Every king move is a tempo Black can use to bring his king towards the queen side, so the pawns move first and the king waits.

How to practise it

Play White. The first move is the lesson; after it, watch which pawn Black captures with and answer on the other side of the board. Promoting a pawn inside eight moves ends the drill. Then play it again, because Stockfish does not always capture the same way, and each line ends on a different queening square.

Questions people ask

What is a pawn breakthrough?

A pawn sacrifice, or several, that opens a path for one pawn to queen. It works when your pawns are further advanced than the defending pawns and the enemy king is too far away to help.

Why does the middle pawn go first?

Because it attacks two pawns at once. Whichever one captures, one side of the board is left with a white pawn facing a single black pawn, and the second sacrifice pulls that last black pawn out of the way.