Pawn structure
configuration of pawns on the chessboard
In a game of chess, the pawn structure (sometimes known as the pawn skeleton) is the configuration of pawns on the chessboard. Because pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus plays a large role in determining the strategic character of the position.
General observations
Weaknesses in the pawn structure, such as isolated, doubled, or backward pawns and holes, once created, are usually permanent. Care must therefore be taken to avoid them (but there are exceptions—for instance see Boleslavsky hole below). In the absence of these structural weaknesses, it is not possible to assess a pawn formation as good or bad—much depends on the position of the pieces. The pawn formation, however, does determine the overall strategies of the players to a large extent, even if arising from unrelated openings. Pawn formations symmetrical about a vertical line (such as the e5-chain and the d5-chain) may appear similar, but they tend to have entirely different characteristics because of the propensity of the kings to castle on the kingside.
Pawn structures often transpose into one another, such as the isolani into the hanging pawns, and vice versa. Such transpositions must be considered carefully and often mark shifts in game strategy.
The major pawn formations
In his 1995 book Pawn Structure Chess, Andrew Soltis classified the major pawn formations into 17 categories.
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