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Backward Pawn in Chess: How to Spot and Attack It

Following Tigran Gharamyan's methodGrandmaster, French Champion 2018, peak rating 2676Updated September 20263 min read

The backward pawn is one of the three classic pawn weaknesses, together with doubled pawns and the isolated pawn.

In this guide we look at what a backward pawn actually is, how to use the strong square right in front of it, how to attack it and tie down the pieces defending it, and the backward pawn hiding inside the Sicilian Sveshnikov.

What Is a Backward Pawn?

A backward pawn is a pawn whose neighboring pawns have pushed further up the board than it has. Those neighbors can no longer defend it, and it can turn into a real weakness, especially when it sits on a file that's open, or semi-open, for the opponent. Take a look at the diagram below.

Diagrampawn skeleton only, no kings (as in the FR source). Black pawns a7 b7 d6 e5 f7 g7 h7 against White pawns a2 b2 c2 e4 f2 g2 h2. Black's d6 is the backward pawn, held back by White's e4; the d-file is semi-open for White

The backward pawn here is Black's pawn on d6. Its neighbor on e5 is further advanced, so d6 can no longer be defended by a pawn. For d6 to stop being backward, it would need to push to d5, but White's pawn on e4 is guarding that square carefully. One of the key questions in this kind of position is whether the d6 pawn will ever manage to push forward. If it can't, it stays weak for a long time and ties down Black's pieces to defend it. If it can, Black ends up with no weak pawns at all.

Notice the semi-open d-file for White in this position. That lets White double up rooks on it to hammer away at the d6 pawn.

Attacking to Tie Down the Enemy Pieces

The main way to make a backward pawn pay is simply to attack it. The idea is to force the opponent's pieces into passive, defensive jobs. Sometimes the attackers even outnumber the defenders, and the backward pawn falls outright. That's exactly what happens in the famous game below, where the future world champion Vasily Smyslov exploits the weakness beautifully. Click through the moves below to follow the game on the board.

Game viewer — Smyslov vs Denker, USSR vs USA match, Moscow 1946, White doubles rooks on the d-file and wins the backward d6 pawn

Starting position

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Notice in particular how White doubles the rooks on the d-file to keep hammering the backward pawn.

The Strong Square in Front of the Backward Pawn

Another key idea behind the backward pawn, for positional play, is that the square right in front of it is a strong square for the side that doesn't have it, and therefore a weak square for the side that does.

Diagramsame kingless pawn skeleton as the first diagram, with a red circle marking the strong square d5 in front of Black's backward d6 pawn

A strong square is a square the opponent's pawns can no longer control. Once a piece actually settles on it, players often call it an outpost, an idea we cover in more depth in our guide to chess outposts. Here, d5, right in front of the d6 pawn, is exactly that kind of square. White can plant a piece there and have a real impact on the position.

Watch how Akiba Rubinstein, playing White in the famous game below, wins the strong square c5 and posts his pieces on it.

Game viewer — Rubinstein vs Salwe, Lodz 1908, Tarrasch Defense (Prague Variation), White wins by taking over the strong square c5

Starting position

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The Backward Pawn in the Sicilian Sveshnikov

Remarkably, in many lines of the Sicilian Defense, Black actually hands themselves a backward pawn on purpose. The idea is to get rid of the weakness later in the game. Take the Sveshnikov Variation of the Sicilian as an example.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5

DiagramSicilian Sveshnikov Variation after 5...e5, Black voluntarily accepts a backward pawn on d7

Black deliberately takes on a pawn weakness on d7. But the hope is to eventually push d7-d5 and build a really strong pawn center. You'll find the same idea in the Sicilian Najdorf, among others.

That's our guide to the backward pawn. Feel free to share it if it helped.

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