What is Hole in chess?
A square in your position that your own pawns can never defend, creating a permanent weakness.
Holes most often appear when pawns advance and can no longer retreat. An enemy knight that reaches a hole on the fifth or sixth rank is often decisive.
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- Isolated pawnA pawn with no friendly pawns on the adjacent files.
- Doubled pawnsTwo friendly pawns stacked on the same file.
- Backward pawnA pawn that can't advance because the squares ahead are controlled by the opponent, and can't be supported by its own pawns.
- Passed pawnA pawn with no enemy pawns able to block or capture it on its way to promotion.
- Pawn chainA diagonal line of pawns where each pawn defends the one in front of it.
- Pawn majorityHaving more pawns than the opponent on one side of the board.