Isaac Boleslavsky - The Boleslavsky Hole

The Boleslavsky Hole

In the Sicilian, a certain pawn structure is named after him called the Boleslavsky hole. This is where black elects to play e5 leaving a backward pawn on d6 and also creating a 'hole' on the d5 square which could potentially become an outpost for a white knight at some stage in the game and is therefore seen as a potential weakness for the black side. This kind of formation is a well known structural feature in the Najdorf (c.f. the "English attack" in the classical sense), but it can be contrasted against related but different Sicilians where black chooses to play e6 instead of the e5 move; This avoids creating a 'hole' on d5 and the position instead transposes into a Scheveningen type of set-up. It is not the case that e5 is considered a weaker move to play than the slightly more timid e6, but it could possibly be considered to be in the spirit of a less cautious, more aggressive, playing style. Despite the potential drawbacks of e5, it serves the positive function of "kicking" the centralized white knight on d4 back to a more passive location either on Nb3 or (less commonly) where it was originally positioned on Nf3. It is also worth mentioning that the backward pawn on d6 is not so easily targeted by the white pieces due to the fact that it is usually well protected by black's dark squared bishop occupying the e7 square. Another positive role of playing e5 in one move is that it stakes a claim on one of the central squares. Obviously enough, it is possible to play e6 to get to the Scheveningen type of pawn structure and play e5 afterwards, so in this sense through loss of one tempi there can be a transposition from one type of pawn structure into another. According to Andrew Soltis, after a Boleslavsky hole is created, the idea is not to keep the pawn on d6 backwards; At some stage in the game, if black is permitted to play a d6-d5 pawn advance this will free his dark squared bishop, releasing the position and freeing his game. Interestingly, in the famous Bg5 Najdorf Sicilian, the pawn advance e5 is rarely ever played at the top level because the white knight can hop into the f5 square with good practical chances for securing an advantage.