Having more pawns on one side of the board than the opponent (e.g., 3 vs 2).
Why it matters
A majority is more pawns than the opponent on one side of the board. Left alone it is only a count; played properly it turns into a passed pawn, and a passed pawn is what wins endgames.
Both sides usually have one, on opposite wings, and the game becomes a race between them. Whose majority is faster, and whose king is nearer the other side's, is often the whole evaluation of an endgame.
See it on a board
Three pawns against two on the queenside. Advancing the candidate first, then breaking with c6, leaves a passed pawn that no black pawn can touch.
Checked: the position really has the feature described.
How to play it
- Advance the pawn that has no opponent in front of it first — the candidate.
- Keep the pawns supporting each other; a majority advanced in a broken line stops being a majority.
- Do not trade the wrong pawns. Every trade that kills your extra pawn kills the plan.
At each level
The same idea, said the way it is taught at each age.
Knight · ages 4–6
If you have three pawns against two on one side, push the one the opponent cannot answer. That is how a passed pawn is made.
Queen · ages 8–11
Count both majorities before trading into an endgame. A queenside majority is usually worth more, because the kings start on the other side.
What goes wrong
- Pushing the pawn that faces an enemy pawn first, which blocks the whole majority.
- Trading pieces into an endgame without checking whether the opponent's majority runs faster than yours.
Questions people ask
- Why is an outside majority strong?
- Because the passed pawn it makes is far from both kings. The defender's king has to leave the other side of the board to stop it, and yours walks in behind.