White's a5, b5 and c5 against c7, d7 and e7. At the crossroads the pawns head in opposite directions: White has no opponents on the a- and b-files, so the edge pawn is already a passer and simply runs through to queen.
A clear run with 1.a6 - play the line through to the queen.
White has a5, b5 and c5 against c7, d7 and e7. At the crossroads the pawns pass each other by: White's a- and b-files are clear, and the pawn goes through without a fight.
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.
White's a- and b-pawns meet no black pawn on their files - which means they are already passers. No sacrifice and no breakthrough is needed: the pawn simply walks a6-a7-a8=Q.
Black's c-, d- and e-pawns are pointed the other way and cannot get back to help the defence.
A white pawn on the fifth rank queens in 3 moves. Black has twice as far to go, and is hopelessly late.
The crossroads is a clear illustration: sometimes no breakthrough is needed, you only have to spot the ready-made passer.
What to avoid, so the breakthrough does not turn into a draw.
Do not overcomplicate: the a- and b-pawns are already passers. Simply escorting one of them home is enough - superfluous sacrifices only waste time.
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.
By simply escorting the edge pawn home: there are no black pawns on the a- and b-files, so those are ready-made passers. 1.a6, a7, a8=Q.
No. A breakthrough is needed when the pawns touch. Here the a- and b-files are free, and the pawn goes through without a fight.
No: the pawns are pointed the other way and have twice as far to go to promotion.
The Vibe Chess app is built for an evening over the board, not for online play: it keeps the sign-up list, the pairings and the table while you deal with people and the venue. All of it free.
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.
Sign up to the Vibe Chess bot on Telegram - it carries the schedule of meetups and chess events across the cities we run in.
