150 ICGA Journal September 2004 BLOCKAGE DETECTION IN PAWN ENDGAMES

In this article 4 we introduce a blockage-detection method, which manages to detect a large set of blockage positions in pawn endgames, with practically no additional overhead. By examining different elements of the pawn structure, the method checks whether the Pawns form a blockage which prevents the King from penetrating into the opponent’s camp. It then checks several criteria to find out whether the blockage is permanent. 1