Outpost: a square your knight can never be kicked from

Knights are slow, and what they hate most is being chased around by pawns. If there's a square where no enemy pawn can ever kick it out, and one of your own pawns protects it from behind, a knight can settle in there and keep an eye on several things at once. That square is called an outpost. Finding outposts and occupying them is one of the most practical strategies there is. Once you've read this, play chess online and go look for one.

What is an outpost?

A square usually counts as an outpost when:

1. Enemy pawns can't attack it: the enemy pawns on the two neighboring files have already gone past it or been traded, so no pawn can hit that square.
2. Your own pawn protects it: even if your opponent trades a piece for it, you recapture with a pawn.
3. It's in your opponent's half: ideally on the fourth, fifth or sixth rank. The closer to the enemy, the bigger the threat.

Why knights fit best

• Knights hate being chased by pawns: bishops, rooks and queens move a long way, so if a square doesn't hold they can relocate from far off. A knight only jumps one hop at a time, so getting kicked wastes a lot of time. On an outpost the knight finally gets to stop running.
• Knights are strongest up front: from d5 a knight eyes c7, e7, b6 and f6, all squares inside your opponent's camp.
• Your opponent can only trade it off: to get rid of the knight, your opponent has to give up a bishop or knight for it. If they don't have the right piece, the knight can stay there until the game ends.

Example: d5 in the Najdorf

That's the two sides of an outpost: by pushing e5, Black gains central space but turns d5 into a "hole". For the rest of the game, lots of moves on both sides revolve around d5. If Black manages to push d5 and plug the hole, the problem is solved.

Don't hand your opponent an outpost

Before you push a pawn, ask: once this pawn goes past, can any pawn still protect the squares behind it? Pawns can't go back, so a hole you leave is hard to fix.

• Don't push both neighboring pawns forward without a reason; it leaves a great square for your opponent in between.
• When your opponent's knight is already looking for a home, control the likely outpost with a pawn first.
• If you do have a hole, keep a bishop or knight nearby so you can trade off whatever piece lands there.

All of this comes down to pawn structure: the pawns decide where the holes and the outposts are.

FAQ

Try it yourself

Play free online chess against the computer and look for a square enemy pawns can't attack, then get a knight onto it. The square in front of an isolated pawn is often an outpost. See isolated pawn.

Practise in a game

Read next

• Pawn structurePawn islands, pawn chains, doubled pawns, backward pawns, and open versus closed centers. Read the pawns and you'll know which side to attack on.
• Isolated pawnNo friendly pawns on either side means an isolated pawn. Why it's hard to defend, why it can still fuel an attack, and how each side should play.
• Open fileA file with no pawns is a highway for your rooks. Take the open file, double your rooks, break into the seventh rank: the three most important things rooks do.