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How to defend against pawn storms?

Best tip is try to organise your pieces ( e.g Finachetto Bishop or f3/f6 knight ) in a way that the attack can be blocked, without allowing lines to be opened.

The reason pawn storms work so well in quick games is that they are so easy to do, but are tricky to defend against.

One very common way that people block attacks incorrectly is where they will block the first advancing pawn in a way that solidifies a pawn that can easily be attacked later on. Example ----

When white is castled queenside and pushes h2-h4 to attack the black king.

Assuming black has played g6 to fianchetto the bishop, the correct way to defend would be to play h7-h6.

The plan is the meet h5 with g5, and now even if white pushes g2-g4 it doesn't matter because both pawns are blocked

What people will often do is meet h2-h4 with either h5 ( which is bad because g2-g4 will just open lines ) or if they havent played g6 already, when the pawn get to h5 they will play h6 which again allows the g pawn attack ( pawn storm )

There aren't really any tactics puzzles that teach you how to block attacks like this and keep all lines closed, which is why these pawn storms work so well. But they aren't hard to defend against, thats why they're rarely played in long games.

Best of luck
Just played a game that demonstrates this blocking idea ->

Moves 10 and 11 show this blocking method.

en.lichess.org/M8dnWDkk/black#18

He sacs out of frustration because the lines are closed and it will take time to move around the knight and push the f pawn.
This type of "pawn storm" is flawed as long as you don't panic. In a rapid match this may be difficult if you don't have some idea how to counter these moves. When you stave off an attack like this your opponent often will be demoralised as the downside of such an attack is structure weakness. A failed "dodgy attack" usually will result in ultimate defeat with "egg on the face" of the attacker. The reason they use it is because it gets results, especially weaker players or the unprepared stronger players. Yes it has caught me out from time to time but less so these days.
I see if I can find a game that demonstrates good play against a pawn storm. I'll post it soon.

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