Breakthrough
A pawn sacrifice or maneuver that creates a passed pawn by forcing open a path through an opposing pawn structure.
Breakthroughs are common in king-and-pawn endgames where a temporary material sacrifice clears the way for one pawn to outrun the defending king to promotion.
Etymology
Breakthrough as a noun is dated 1918 in a military sense, from the verbal phrase attested since c. 1400. Chess borrowed the trench-warfare image directly: a breakthrough is “penetration of the opponent's position, or destruction of the defense, often by means of a sacrifice.” The term was canonised as a formal tactical category by the Encyclopedia of Chess Middlegames, whose tactics list includes “Pawns Breakthrough.” No source consulted documents the first chess-specific use.
First documented: 1918 — General military use of the noun “breakthrough” (per Etymonline); no chess-specific first use confirmed
Translations
Translations for this term haven't been added yet.