attack · recognise → explain → apply

Use a flank pawn to undermine a central defender

A wing pawn can attack a pawn that holds the centre together.

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

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Choose an example

Bobby Fischer – Boris Spassky

World Championship, Reykjavik · 1972.??.?? · 1-0

25... a5 · White to move

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What to notice at 25... a5

Fischer’s 26.f5 challenged the e6-pawn. After ...exf5, a rook recaptured and the f-file became a route for increasing pressure.

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 wing pawn can attack a pawn that holds the centre together. How would you apply “use a flank pawn to undermine a central defender”, and which defensive reply must you check?

Explain it in your own words before revealing.

Make it memorable

Pull the support, not just the front pawn.

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.