The Minority Attack - Principles of Chess Middle Games

“A book cannot by itself teach how to play. It can only serve as a guide, and the rest must be learned by experience.”

Jose Capablanca

# Introduction

Hi classmates,
Welcome to the series "Principles of Chess Middle Games". Here we discuss the most fundamental theoretical concepts of chess. The intention is to make you aware that the middle game is the same as the endgame. Like we say, Two rooks endgame or Bishop knight mate similarly, we in the middlegame say an outpost or weak squares or blockade and restriction. When we put this in this way chess becomes simple and more understandable.

# Topic for today 
Today we will discuss the short yet critical concept. This is the continuation of the previous blog, " The Pawn Majority".we will today discuss about Pawn minority. 

# Why is it IMPORTANT

It is very important to understand that in a critical moment, it is important to play on both sides of the board. Having a pawn majority doesn't means you don't use your minorities. For any attack to build we need to block the center and restrict opposite-side activity.

#The Minority Attack

The minority attack happens when your opponent has a queenside majority. As you can see here, black has more queenside pawns than white. This is dangerous because it is easier for black to create a passed pawn. This position happens when the c pawn has been traded for your opponent's e pawn. 

• Using the Minority Attack to create weaknesses in your opponent’s position is a very strong strategic weapon.
• This attack was implemented into chess practice not so long ago, somewhere in the late 19th century. Before that, some openings which resulted in one side having a 3 to 2 pawn majority on the queenside were thought to have a superior position. The minority attack changed that idea and made the variations sound and playable on the highest levels. The idea behind this aggressive pawn storm is that you use your two pawns to attack your opponent’s three, thus causing structural damage. The resulting structure often leaves the defending side with a backward pawn he is condemned to defend for the rest of the game.

The minority attack most often occurs out if the Queen’s Gambit Declined and from the Exchange Caro-Kann. The prerequisites for it are a 3 to 2 structure on the queenside (with the c pawn advanced to the third/sixth rank to be used as a target) and pieces on the board. Without pieces to exploit the newly created weakness, the attack would make no sense, as the target couldn’t be pressured.

# But how do I get this Structure?

# 1 - The Queen's Gambit Declined -

The Queen's Gambit Declined is a common way to reach the Minority Attack Position.

# 2 - Caro-Kann exchange -

The minority attack is also often reached through the Caro-Kann exchange.

# What is the plan?

# 1 - The Queen's Gambit Declined -

1. We have to create a weakness on c6.
2. Use a6, b4-b5 push.
3. Place the rook on b1 to help the pawn move forward.
4. Use our pieces since minority attacks only work with pieces supporting them.

# 2 - Caro-Kann exchange -

Here plan is similar,

1. We have to create a weakness on c3.
2. Use a6, b5-b4 push.
3. Place the rook on b8 to help the pawn move forward.
4. Use our pieces since minority attacks only work with pieces supporting them.

# Grand Master games

Game 1 -

Denker vs I A Horowitz, 1933  
(D52) Queen's Gambit Declined, 48 moves, 1-0

Alekhine vs Euwe, 1935  
(D17) Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, 30 moves, 1-0

Reshevsky vs G N Treysman, 1936  
(D35) Queen's Gambit Declined, 38 moves, 1-0

Well, this brings us to the end of the blog. I would Like to end this by saying Pawn minority is not a big concept but is an idea to play most effectively. You have to anyways use your majority to win the endgame but minorities help to stop any stupidity on the other side of the board.
On this note let's end this blog here. Till then,
Let us all grow at chess together,

If you are seeing this for the first time we have completed the following concepts in this series,

Blockade & Restriction ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/blockade-restriction-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

Greek Gift sacrifice ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/greek-gift-sacrifice-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

Opposite Side Castling ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/opposite-side-castling-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

Weak Square & Outpost ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/weak-square-outpost-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

The Bishop Pair ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/the-bishop-pair-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

Prophylaxis ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/prophylaxis-principles-of-chess-middle-games-2 )

Clearance sacrifice ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/clearance-sacrifice-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

Weak Colour Complex (https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/weak-colour-complex-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

Pawn structure (https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/pawn-structure-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

 Isolated Pawn (https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/isolated-pawn-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

Attacking the uncastled king ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/attacking-the-uncastled-king-principles-of-chess-middle-games )

Pawn Majorities ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/pawn-majorities-principles-of-chess-middle-games-2 )

If YOUR HERE TILL END...