Pawn Structure Guide: Part of the Beginner's Chess Guide (Section 2)
Beginner's Guide to
Pawn Structure (General Formations)
[Open Positions]
General Formations
- Open Positions -
Open Positions are no different to the Open Game situation - they're just two ways of referring to the same development ...
In our Chess Game Types article, the focus was on the Knights versus the Bishops and which was better in an Open situation.
Here, while it's impossible to ignore what the Bishops and Knights are up to, the emphasis is to focus more on the role of the Pawn(s).
- Look at where the Pawns go;
- Look at how the Pawns are spread;
- Look at how the positions of the Pawns allow the Bishop(s) to roam the Board, along their respective colored squares.
Get a feel for these formations, as they characterize the Open Position, which your Bishops and Queen(s) can exploit.
It's likely that positions will only be Open for the full benefit of just ONE of your Bishops, so you must pay attention to how the Pawns are being developed ...
If the light squares are rapidly being occupied by Pawns; if you choose to launch one of your Bishops into the action, it'd be the dark square Bishop you'd want to use ... And vice versa, naturally.
Moving On: Closed Positions (Page 2).
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