Triple pawns bad?

[David Blower]

[FEN "5r2/1P4pk/p5np/8/1P6/Pq5P/2P3P1/R2Q3K w KQkq - 0 1"]

Just wondering if I should have played cxb3 here? Well clearly I should have done, and in fact I did. My opponent resigned immediately after I played the move.

My real question is when have you had triple (or more) pawns.

[MartinCarpenter]

They're 'routine' for white in various branches of the 4 f3 Nimzo (also elsewhere in the Nimzo) and Winaver/McCutcheon French. Often fairly effective too, even in their own right in a way - the 'front' pawn on c5 can be a real menace if it survives for any period of time.

[Roger de Coverly]

My real question is when have you had triple (or more) pawns.

There are some openings where you get them deliberately. One of them is a line of the Winawer French which can go 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. dxc5 Bxc3 6. bxc3 . A similar idea can arise in the Nimzo Indian. When the tripled pawns arise in normal play, they are sometimes termed "the Irish pawn centre", a term coined by the late Tony Miles when annotating one of his games against an Irish player who had such a structure in an earlier round.

[Kevin O'Rourke]

If you have 7 pawns on the same file you cannot lose.


Why??


Cause it takes so many captures to get them that the opponent can only have his king left! haa

[Ian Kingston]

In a rapidplay game at Lichfield CC last week, White had tripled pawns on e5, e6 and e7. It was impossible to figure out what was going on, especially as Black had doubled pawns on g3 and g4 and both kings (White's on g1 and Black's on c8) were somewhat exposed and most of the pieces were still on the board.

[Kevin O'Rourke]

[FEN "5r2/1P4pk/p5np/8/1P6/Pq5P/2P3P1/R2Q3K w KQkq - 0 1"]

Just wondering if I should have played cxb3 here? Well clearly I should have done, and in fact I did. My opponent resigned immediately after I played the move.

My real question is when have you had triple (or more) pawns.

why did that guy give you his queen?

[David Blower]

[FEN "5r2/1P4pk/p5np/8/1P6/Pq5P/2P3P1/R2Q3K w KQkq - 0 1"]

Just wondering if I should have played cxb3 here? Well clearly I should have done, and in fact I did. My opponent resigned immediately after I played the move.

My real question is when have you had triple (or more) pawns.

why did that guy give you his queen?

He blundered. Simple as that. The previous move was Black Queen was on e3, taking my bishop on b3.

Hence he resigned as I took the queen off the board. It took me 3 minutes to make the move, as I made sure there was no nasty traps or anything.

[Reg Clucas]

If you have 7 pawns on the same file you cannot lose.


Why??


Cause it takes so many captures to get them that the opponent can only have his king left! haa

Don't think it can happen though - if my counting is correct it would take a minimum of 16 captures. And of course the pawn on the 8th rank would no longer be a pawn!

[Kevin O'Rourke]

read it in a bil hartson book. never checked it though. i would say it is possible

[Ian Thompson]

If you have 7 pawns on the same file you cannot lose.

Why??

Cause it takes so many captures to get them that the opponent can only have his king left! haa

Don't think it can happen though - if my counting is correct it would take a minimum of 16 captures. And of course the pawn on the 8th rank would no longer be a pawn!

read it in a bil hartson book. never checked it though. i would say it is possible

I say you could lose the game if you have 7 pawns on the same file. Why? Because there's no legal way of getting to such a position (as Reg says), so you could lose through having played an illegal move.

[Kevin O'Rourke]

if old bill says its possible then it must be

[Alistair Campbell]

If you have 7 pawns on the same file you cannot lose.


Why??


Cause it takes so many captures to get them that the opponent can only have his king left! haa

Don't think it can happen though - if my counting is correct it would take a minimum of 16 captures. And of course the pawn on the 8th rank would no longer be a pawn!

12 captures, no? And the seventh pawn remains a pawn on the eighth rank until you complete your move. And I guess you could still lose.

[Kevin O'Rourke]

Hartson said you cannot lose as the person will have only his king left.

[Kevin O'Rourke]

i think hartson would have looked at it carefully before printing it in his book

[NickFaulks]

12 captures, no? And the seventh pawn remains a pawn on the eighth rank until you complete your move. And I guess you could still lose.

Agreed. It seems a simple matter to construct a game where, once White completes his final capture on d8, he will be checkmated next move.