Before getting into the lesson, first we’d like to apologize to you for the inconvenience caused as our site went down and, for that reason, you might not have been able to grab our latest course “Top Secrets in Rook Endgames” with the special offers we’ve provided you with. That being said, we’ve extended the special offers for two more days.

The 30% discount coupon “rook30” on the course will be valid till Thursday, 4 July (inclusive). Using this coupon will save you about $24 USD on the course. If you don’t know how to use the coupon, please see this FAQ page. Also, the combo offer we’re providing you with – the course “Master Sicilian Pawn Structures” and “Top Secrets in Rook Endgames”, both authored by IM Mateusz Kołosowski, has been extended as well; you can save almost $40 USD if you buy them together on or before Thursday, 4 July. Also, don’t forget to use the coupon “rook30”, which will save you an additional $24 USD. 🙂

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Backward pawns require special attention in rook endgames, whether you’re attacking the backward pawn or defending it. There are certain principles and strategies that a player must know in order to play better in such positions. Indeed, having a backward pawn is a weakness, but there’s a truth in chess that the presence of weakness does not necessarily mean that the weakness is ‘exploited’. That is, in this case, when your opponent has a backward pawn, which is a weakness, it does not always necessarily mean that you can take that pawn and gain material advantage.

You always need to have more than enough resources (more number of attacking resources than the defending resources your opponent has) in order to take full advantage of that weakness, exploit it, and gain advantage. Otherwise, that weakness is not actually a weakness. Makes sense, right? 🙂

Let me help you understand some key differences in different pawn structures involving backward pawns. Take a look at the positions below:
In the position on the left, we can see that Black has two backward pawns (b6 and d6), and both these pawns have a weak square in front of it; i.e. a square which is not protected by any other black pawn, and White is able to occupy them. Whereas, in the position on the right, we can see that Black is able to defend the backward pawn on d6 quite easily, because there is no other weakness for Black to be exploited by White. Yes, that’s the principle of two weaknesses!

So, what’s all this mystery behind backward pawns in rook endgames? How to attack them the right way? How to defend them the right way? That’s exactly what IM Mat Kołosowski has explained in the sixth lesson of the course “Top Secrets in Rook Endgames”, and we’ve published that lesson FREE for you. You can watch the video lesson below:

Did you like the lesson from the course? If yes, that’s great, because the course has so many other interesting lessons as well, where the author explains how to create and exploit various weaknesses in rook endgames. Don’t miss this golden opportunity to grab the course with the amazing offers that are mentioned at the top of this article. Good luck! 🙂