Weakness
In the endgame, isolated pawns are a weakness in pawn structure because they cannot be defended by other pawns as with connected pawns. In this diagram, the white pawn on the e4 square and the black pawn on a7 are isolated.
Isolated pawns are weak for two reasons. First, the pieces attacking them usually have more flexibility than those defending them. In other words, the attacking pieces enjoy greater freedom to make other threats (win pieces, checkmate, etc.), while the defending pieces are restricted to the defense of the pawn. This is because a piece that is attacking a pawn can give up the attack to do something else, whereas the defending piece must stay rooted to the spot until the attacking piece has moved. The defending piece is thus said to be "tied down" to the pawn.
The second reason is that the square immediately in front of the isolated pawn is weak, since it is immune to attack by a pawn (often providing an excellent outpost for a knight). Thus an isolated pawn provides a typical example of what Wilhelm Steinitz called weak squares.
Read more about this topic: Isolated Pawn
Famous quotes containing the word weakness:
“Once women begin to question the inevitability of their subordination and to reject the conventions formerly associated with it, they can no longer retreat to the safety of those conventions. The woman who rejects the stereotype of feminine weakness and dependence can no longer find much comfort in the cliché that all men are beasts. She has no choice except to believe, on the contrary, that men are human beings, and she finds it hard to forgive them when they act like animals.”
—Christopher Lasch (b. 1932)
“The whole fauna of human fantasies, their marine vegetation, drifts and luxuriates in the dimly lit zones of human activity, as though plaiting thick tresses of darkness. Here, too, appear the lighthouses of the mind, with their outward resemblance to less pure symbols. The gateway to mystery swings open at the touch of human weakness and we have entered the realms of darkness. One false step, one slurred syllable together reveal a man’s thoughts.”
—Louis Aragon (1897–1982)
“Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline; simulated fear postulates courage; simulated weakness postulates strength.”
—Sun Tzu (6th–5th century B.C.)