Who is this course designed for?

This course is ideal for beginner and intermediate chess players looking to deepen their understanding of pawn structures and improve their positional play.

Do I need prior chess experience?

A basic knowledge of chess rules and piece movements is recommended, but no advanced theory knowledge is required.

What are chess pawn structures?

Pawn structures refer to the arrangement of pawns on the board, which heavily influences strategic plans, tactics, and game outcomes.

How will this course help my chess?

You will learn to recognize common pawn formations, plan strategically based on pawn weaknesses or strengths, and make better decisions throughout the game phases.

Does the course include practical examples?

Yes, the course features annotated games from world champions and famous structuralists to illustrate key concepts in action.

Will I learn opening, middlegame, and endgame strategies?

Absolutely. The course covers how pawn structures affect all phases of the game, from opening planning to endgame technique.

Are modern chess engines and AI insights included?

Yes, you’ll explore concepts like “thorn pawns” and neural network evaluations to understand modern positional ideas.

Can I ask questions during the course?

Yes, you can interact with the instructor and other students on the course platform for support and discussion.

How much content does the course contain?

The course offers over 45 hours of video lectures and nearly 300 detailed lessons to guide your learning journey.

Will I receive a certificate after completion?

Yes, upon finishing the course, you will earn a certificate of completion to showcase your new skills.

The Ultimate Guide to Chess Pawn Structures

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🎓 Featured Chess Courses

Deepen your chess skills with structured video courses by FIDE CM Tryfon Gavriel (Kingscrusher) – ideal for beginners to intermediate players.

Student Reviews

Chad D.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Hopefully, Kingscrusher creates a course on the Scotch Game !!

David B.

Excellent course! Provides a thorough treatment of the principles and pros and cons of the major pawn structures. Offers an excellent reference of play both with and against these structures and is well illustrated with example games.

Henrik Boye L.

This course is not only pawn structures. It's also shows various plans - and it's done for both sides. If this is not enough it also contains the whopping amount of 45 hours of video and PGN download. Highly recommended.

Instructor response: Many thanks for your very kind and enthusiastic comments. Glad you like it :) Cheers, Tryfon

Subash Chandra B.

Have learnt what to do with the pawns. Looking for gaping holes/Boleslavsky hole, using the outposts, damaging the opponents pawn structure during trade offs. Importance of keeping the Bishops no matter if your structure becomes damaged. Using Backward pawns and the use of blockading squares and which bishop to exchange and which one to sacrifice in particular pawn structures like e5 and d5. Playing with and against Backward pawns, hanging pawns, doubled pawns etc. All these and many more which i have not mentioned were beautifully explained with model GM games really makes us learn well. Kudos to Mr.Trifon Gavriel and team.

Instructor response: Thank you so much for your kind, generous lovely comments and feedback. I am really glad you are getting a lot of the pawn structure themes and concepts and make great use of them in your games to enjoy chess and win more games generally. Cheers, Tryfon

Christopher W.

This is a comprehensive study of pawn structures of all the best known openings in the game of chess. Very well explained and illustrated by Tryfon who analyses classic games to demonstrate his teachings; a very enjoyable course to take at a leisurely pace so that I don't misunderstand anything.

Instructor response: Thank you so much for your kind comments and enthusiastic review :) Cheers, Tryfon

Michael R.

A great course for understanding pawn structures. I enjoyed this course much more than I expected too. Mostly due to Tryfon's teaching style and amazing game selection.

Danny F.

Good. A bit advanced for me. I’m more of a tactical player but it’s good to learn strategy of pawn structures also. I like the opening specific sections, e.g. Benoni formations

Instructor response: Thank you for your feedback - yes, pawns for tacticians can get in the way, and the more dynamic pawn structures concern themselves more with potential piece activity than "neatness", and this is why for example Isolated Queen Pawn's have been used quite often by many world champions for the winning chances they create - both for and against. Cheers, Tryfon

Gérard B.

This course is very good, very useful. Thank you

Instructor response: Many thanks Gérard :)

I. U.

Another amazing course from Kingskrusher, highly recommended.

Instructor response: Thank you very much :) Cheers, Tryfon

Chris B.

this is my 3rd course from this series. great stuff. thank you

Instructor response: Many thanks! Cheers, K

Michael N.

I'm only part-way through this course but already have learned a great deal of information about how to use my pawns. Mr. Gavriel's knowledge is deep, and I appreciate his calm, informative delivery.

Instructor response: Thanks, I really appreciate your great feedback :) I hope your pawn structure based plans become much more effective. Cheers, Tryfon

Phumlani N.

Best chess tutorial!!!

Theodoros M.

It follows pedagogical principles. It looks like has done a lot of work to do this video series. He has a lot of experience (I think was ICC commentator). It would be better if there was some sort of exercises (assignment etc).

Kemal D.

I appreciate your humor and time invested in this specific subject

Roberto C.

The course is very interesting. I am satisfied. The instructor explains the concepts very well. I'm sure my game will be better at the end of the course. Recommended.

Instructor response: Many thanks Roberto :)

Pratish J.

great

Alex C.

i am actually really loving this :-) My background is current elo 1850+ but with some serious theoretical holes, i played a lot of orangutan (wrongly even) as junior and am trying to close some of my larger strategical problems. I watched the Mikhalchishin chessbase and collins vids on the same topics but found them hard to understand in the examples as they tended to just go too fast and be a bit you see this is obvious...although some of the examples seem to veer off track - the stockfish alpha zero doesnt feel like it really has anything to do with the pawn chain ( to my understanding...) the course is making me see things i didnt before and i am learning more than from some other courses...i think this guy is good at explaining things to me at least!

Instructor response: Thank you so much for your kind and enthusiastic review - glad you are truly learning now - Cheers, Tryfon

Nick C.

I've never been so absorbed by a chess instructors teachings before, I often find myself getting tired and bored with most chess lectures, but Kingscrusher has such an interesting style of relaying ideas with so much good advice and positivity I could watch it all day!

Instructor response: Thank you so much Nick for your kind and enthusiastic review :) Cheers, K

Don S.

I like the way the instructor calls attention to a specific aspect of the positions (pawn structure in this course); adding the PGN to the course was a very welcome choice. I hope he will do that for his other courses (I have most of them).

Instructor response: Thank you for your kind comments and enthusiasm for my courses - Cheers, Tryfon

Patrick B.

explication claire des structures de pions et des stratégies associées

Lee D.

Really enjoying the tactics course and think this is also going to be great. Looking forward to having a better understanding of pawn play.

Instructor response: Many thanks, K

Vismith P.

I have only watched three lectures of the course so far, and it's really amazing! Clear voice, clear instruction, I feel like I will really be able to integrate knowledge of pawn structures into my games after this!

Bradley R.

One of the best positional chess courses on the entire world wide web. Simply amazing.

Instructor response: Many thanks for your kind and enthusiastic comments :) Cheers, Tryfon

Peter

Another great interesting course!

Instructor response: Thanks so much :) - Cheers, Tryfon

Mike _.

It's nice listening to a master think out loud.

Harvey R.

The instructor Kingscrusher talks at the right level for me. Still in the course, and look forward to being able to diagnose and exploit pawn structures in my games :-)

Instructor response: Many thanks for your enthusiastic comments :) Cheers, K

Aimee L.

Great chess teacher/course, he makes every lesson super interesting and the pace is excellent. I love the way he breaks down the lessons, overall I‘m super happy and excited to learn with his courses.

Instructor response: Thank you so much for your kind and enthusiastic comments :) Cheers, Tryfon

Mike K.

I like the way how King Crusher explains the details in a energetic way and very good intro so far.

Marc B.

Excellent trainer

Michael S. N.

I like the bite size lesson. I can understand how the pawns are very different in the way it’s being taught.

Instructor response: Thank you so much for your kind words and enthusiasm. Cheers, K

Joan D.

Enjoying it so far. Good content.

Instructor response: Many thanks Joan :)

Werton Alvarenga B.

Excelente Curso para jogadores de Torneios! A Compreensão da Estrutura de Peões é muito importante!

Terence O.

Tryfon Gabriel presents ideas in a way they are understandable to those learning. Thanks!

Shaayan S.

It is very insightful and very interesting to hear about.

Kamal P.

Simply the best

Instructor response: Many thanks Kamal :) Cheers, Tryfon

Matthias K.

Unterhaltsam, fundiert

Sam F.

Nice!

Jerome C.

Yes

🧱 The Ultimate Guide to Chess Pawn Structures

Chess Pawn Structures Playlist

What You Will Learn

Course Highlights

Frequently Asked Questions