Pawn breaks · quiz of 2
ProA pawn break is a pawn move that challenges an enemy pawn to open lines. Every opening has its typical breaks (…c5 against d4, …f5 in the King’s Indian, …d5 in the Sicilian) and getting the timing right is the essence of middlegame planning.
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In the French Advance, Black has exactly two ways to get air: ...c5 against the base of White’s chain and ...f6 against its head. A pawn break is a pawn move that challenges an enemy pawn to open a line, and every opening has its own. Knowing yours and the moment for it is most of middlegame planning.
Three of the four sections are opening structures. The French Advance with its two breaks shown by arrows. The King’s Indian, where Black plays ...f5 after the knight leaves f6 and White plays c5 on the other wing, so the game becomes a race between the two breaks. The Sicilian, where ...d5 equalises at once if it works and White spends the whole opening controlling the square. The fourth section is on timing alone.
The club mistake is to break because the break is "thematic". A break opens lines for both sides, and if your pieces are not placed to use them, the opponent does. Ask what the position looks like after the captures the break invites. If you are better placed there than here, break now. If not, prepare: support the pawn, or remove the piece that will recapture. The opposite mistake is never breaking at all and being squeezed for nothing.
In the first quiz position a knight has been given up on e4 and you win it back with a pawn break; in the second, three pawns face three and you break through. Both take a single move, by voice or by tap. Pro only.
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