Three white pawns on c5, d5 and e5 against three black on d7, e7 and f7. The pawns touch in the centre, and White is a move closer to queening. One exact blow, 1.c6!, opens the position and creates an unstoppable passer. Every black defence is worked through on the board below, plus the mirrored breakthrough for Black.
The main blow 1.c6! At the branch, pick any defence for Black - each of them loses.
Three white pawns on c5, d5 and e5 against d7, e7 and f7. White is a move closer and breaks through: 1.c6! creates an unstoppable passer. Choose a defence for Black - each one is worked through on the board.
The walkthrough has not started yet.
At the branches several defences are available - take any of them. «Back» returns one move, «Main line» plays the principal variation automatically.
The mirrored position: the same blow 1...c3 breaks Black through.
The mirror image: the black pawns on c4, d4 and e4 are the advanced ones, Black to move. The same blow 1...c3! breaks through to queen.
The walkthrough has not started yet.
At the branches several defences are available - take any of them. «Back» returns one move, «Main line» plays the principal variation automatically.
The pawns touch in the centre on the d- and e-files, but on the c-file Black has no pawn - and that is what White exploits. The blow 1.c6! attacks d7 and forces Black to exchange: 1...dxc6 2.dxc6, and the c-pawn becomes an unstoppable passer.
After that the count settles it: c6-c7-c8=Q is two moves, while Black's f7 pawn needs a full five to promote. Black is hopelessly late.
Declining the exchange loses even faster. Against 1...d6 (moving the pawn away) 2.c7 and 3.c8=Q decide. Against 1...f6 (a try at a counter-race) - 2.cxd7 and 3.d8=Q: White queens as early as move three.
Only the d7 pawn can take on c6 - so Black has essentially no defence: every line ends with a white queen.
The technique does not depend on colour. The second board shows the mirrored position with the black pawns advanced to c4, d4 and e4. With the same blow 1...c3 2.dxc3 dxc3 Black creates a c-file passer and queens.
So in structures like this everything turns on whose move it is: whoever strikes at the wedging square first is the one who breaks through.
Learn these set-ups - in them the breakthrough is already settled.
After 1.c6 dxc6 2.dxc6 the pawn on c6 queens in two moves (c7 and c8=Q), and the black pawns cannot keep up.
White has queened while the black pawn has only reached f5. The breakthrough 1.c6! settled the outcome.
What to avoid, so the breakthrough does not turn into a draw.
Both 1.d6 and 1.e6 win, but the quickest and cleanest path is 1.c6: it is the c-pawn that becomes the passer, because Black has no pawn on the c-file. Count which blow queens sooner.
The exact order: after 1...dxc6 you must take with 2.dxc6 - it is that capture which creates the c-file passer. Without it the breakthrough does not work.
The starting position is already loaded - move the pawns yourself or paste your own FEN.
Drag a piece onto the board, or click a piece and then click the squares. The cross beside the pieces sweeps every piece of that colour off the board, and a single piece can be dragged off the edge.
The pieces will be arranged into the chosen pattern.
It is the mating side to move. Find mate in one.
Openings, endgame positions and breakthrough studies - the set-up appears on the board.
With the blow 1.c6! The pawn attacks d7; after 1...dxc6 2.dxc6 an unstoppable passer appears on the c-file and queens in two moves.
Black has no pawn on the c-file, so after the exchange in the centre it is the c-pawn that becomes the passer. The moves 1.d6 and 1.e6 also win, but 1.c6 is the quickest and cleanest path.
Yes, but it loses even faster: 1...d6 is met by 2.c7, and 1...f6 by 2.cxd7, and White queens as early as move three.
Yes, it mirrors exactly: in the position with the black pawns advanced, the same blow 1...c3 breaks Black through. See the second board on this page.
Pairings are computed by bbpPairings, an open-source engine implementing the Dutch system by FIDE rules: score groups, floats on an odd field, colour alternation. Free to use.
Work through the other pawn studies in the VC series on the board - breakthroughs, races and overtakes.
Build your own position in the board editor, play through the chess openings move by move, or look into endgame walkthroughs such as king and pawn. If you are only starting out, read the rules of chess and how to set the pieces up.
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