Blockade

The restraining of the movement of enemy pawns. The term "blockade in chess," as well as the development of methods for carrying it out, belongs to Nimzowitsch, who formulated the principles of the blockade in his book "My System" and the pamphlet "Chess Blockade."

The essence of the blockade is that one's own piece is placed in front of the enemy pawn. Heavy pieces can also carry out a blockade "from a distance," along the file on which the pawn stands. Before blockading a pawn, one sometimes achieves a restraint of its advance first, and only then carries out the blockade.

The blockade is an important device in the struggle against pawn superiority. It is sometimes useful to blockade even sluggish pawns, in order to create objects for an offensive. The blockade of two or several pawns can completely paralyze the opponent's forces.

Blockading squares are convenient posts for pieces, from which, being shielded from attack, they themselves exert pressure on the opponent's position. Blockading pieces are especially strong in the center, while at the edge of the board they are less active. Thus one can distinguish between a strong and a weak blockade, depending on the possible actions of the blockading piece.