strategy · recognise → explain → apply

Against the isolani: restrain without falling asleep

Use the square in front, sensible exchanges and a second target.

Explanation styleChoose any style. Age is not playing strength; no birth date is needed.

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Notes and replay positions are saved. Practice games are temporary; export their PGN to keep them.

Choose an example

Anatoly Karpov – Garry Kasparov

World Championship, Moscow, game 9 · 1984.10.05 · 1-0

33... Rxc4 · White to move

Jump to move

What to notice at 33... Rxc4

After Rd4 and the rook exchanges, the locked d-pawns remain relevant to king and knight routes.

A legally replayed historical example, not a claim that every move is best. A game’s result does not prove every defensive position was lost or drawn.

Game source ↗

Your thinking first

Name the signal, choose a plan, and test the opponent’s most challenging response.

What do you notice?What is your plan, and why?How could the opponent resist?

Recall and explain

1. Is the blockading square only a defensive square?

Explain it in your own words before revealing.

2. Can removing the visible blockader fail to free the pawn?

Explain it in your own words before revealing.

3. Why not attack the pawn with every piece?

Explain it in your own words before revealing.

Make it memorable

Hold the break; keep your army alive.

Teach this to a friend in one minute. Then return to a different example and look for the same signal without being told its name.

Reflect and revisit

This is your self-assessment, not an engine grade or a promise of mastery.

Connect the ideas

Sources and further reading

Original GolgiChess teaching and game analysis. Topic references are credited below; no affiliation or endorsement is implied.

Exeter Chess Club: Weak pawns ↗

strategy · recognise → explain → apply

Against the isolani: restrain without falling asleep

Use the square in front, sensible exchanges and a second target.

Explanation styleChoose any style. Age is not playing strength; no birth date is needed.

Loading progress…

Notes and replay positions are saved. Practice games are temporary; export their PGN to keep them.

Choose an example

Anatoly Karpov – Garry Kasparov

World Championship, Moscow, game 9 · 1984.10.05 · 1-0

33... Rxc4 · White to move

Jump to move

What to notice at 33... Rxc4

After Rd4 and the rook exchanges, the locked d-pawns remain relevant to king and knight routes.

A legally replayed historical example, not a claim that every move is best. A game’s result does not prove every defensive position was lost or drawn.

Game source ↗

Your thinking first

Name the signal, choose a plan, and test the opponent’s most challenging response.

What do you notice?What is your plan, and why?How could the opponent resist?

Recall and explain

1. Is the blockading square only a defensive square?

Explain it in your own words before revealing.

2. Can removing the visible blockader fail to free the pawn?

Explain it in your own words before revealing.

3. Why not attack the pawn with every piece?

Explain it in your own words before revealing.

Make it memorable

Hold the break; keep your army alive.

Teach this to a friend in one minute. Then return to a different example and look for the same signal without being told its name.

Reflect and revisit

This is your self-assessment, not an engine grade or a promise of mastery.

Connect the ideas

Sources and further reading

Original GolgiChess teaching and game analysis. Topic references are credited below; no affiliation or endorsement is implied.

Exeter Chess Club: Weak pawns ↗