Over the summer months Christine Roberts is delighting and entertaining us with her chess poems. This one covers the modest but often underestimated pawn!

Walk beside the humble pawn,
which on its own is quite forlorn.
It’s aim is to become a queen;
in most games, though, that’s seldom seen.

First, it moves one square, or two,
depending on the op’ning you
decide to play, at start of game;
(op’nings always have a name!)

Pawns move to let the pieces out
and try to make opponents doubt
what plan’s in mind, what dev’lish plot
is under way, no matter what!

Doubled pawns they simply hate
as sometimes this can hasten mate.
They’d rather move up in a chain,
controlling centre, in the main.

Diagonally, is how they take
to gain advantage or to make
it harder for the other side
in terms of space in which to hide.

En passant is a scary term
but one that you should quickly learn
to stop a sneaky pawn go by
(and irritate the other guy).

And here I stop this scanty peek,
enough now for the current week,
at how the pawn should be your friend
from start until the mating end!

Copyright © Christine Roberts 2021