attack · recognise → explain → apply

Dismantle a pawn barrier by sacrificing a knight

A pawn barrier blocks your queen and bishop from the king.

Explanation styleChoose any style. Age is not playing strength; no birth date is needed.

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Choose an example

Raymond Keene – Anthony Miles

Hastings 1975/76 · 1976.01.12 · 1-0

17... Nc6 · White to move

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What to notice at 17... Nc6

Keene played 18.Nxg6 hxg6 19.Bxg6 fxg6. The attack continued with 20.Qb1, using the newly cleared geometry rather than immediately recovering all the material.

A legally replayed historical example, not a claim that every move is best. A game’s result does not prove every defensive position was lost or drawn.

Game source ↗

Your thinking first

Name the signal, choose a plan, and test the opponent’s most challenging response.

What do you notice?What is your plan, and why?How could the opponent resist?

Recall and explain

1. A pawn barrier blocks your queen and bishop from the king. How would you apply “dismantle a pawn barrier by sacrificing a knight”, and which defensive reply must you check?

Explain it in your own words before revealing.

Make it memorable

Remove the wall one brick at a time.

Teach this to a friend in one minute. Then return to a different example and look for the same signal without being told its name.

Reflect and revisit

This is your self-assessment, not an engine grade or a promise of mastery.

Connect the ideas

Practise pawn transformations →

Sources and further reading

Original LumaChess teaching and game analysis. Topic references are credited below; no affiliation or endorsement is implied.