Blockade

A blockade is a situation when the opponent has a pawn that needs to be stopped. Usually it is a passed pawn and it will promote unless stopped. A easy way to stop a passed pawn is to put a piece in front of it. That way, it can't advance. The best piece to do this with is a knight. Queens and rooks shouldn't be used unless you have to since they shouldn't be tied down doing this. You can block pawns with pawns too. So usually if your pawn gets blockaded, you should remove the blockader. When you blockade a passed or isolated pawn you put one of your pieces in front of the pawn to accomplish two things. The first is to stop the pawn from advancing and the second is to launch a plan to eliminate the pawn.