Pawn Chain
A diagonal line of pawns of the same color, each defending the one in front of it.
Pawn chains are common in closed openings such as the King's Indian Defense or French Defense, and attacking the base of a chain is a classic strategic method for undermining the whole structure.
Etymology
Chain comes into English c. 1300 from Old French chaeine, from Latin catena; applied to pawns, the metaphor is of links each supporting the next along a diagonal. The English phrase is remarkably old: Philidor's Analysis (1777) instructs that “when you find yourself with a chain of pawns following one another, the pawn which is at the head of them must strive to preserve its post.” Nimzowitsch turned it into a system in Chapter 9 of My System, “The Pawn Chain” — the eighth of his elements of chess strategy — introducing the vocabulary of the “base” (the bottommost link, on which all others depend) and the doctrine of attacking it.
First documented: 1777 — Philidor, Analysis of the Game of Chess (English ed., 1777) — as “a chain of pawns”
Translations
Translations for this term haven't been added yet.