Pawn weaknesses are permanent. An isolated queen's pawn gives activity but becomes a target in the endgame; backward and doubled pawns leave weak squares.
Key principles
- Blockade an isolated pawn with a knight on the square in front
- Trade pieces against an IQP; keep pieces when you have one
- A backward pawn on a half-open file is a target
Common mistakes
- Letting the IQP advance with ...d4/d5
- Trading the blockading knight