A pawn usually will not be in a position to give check, but it may not need to be in order to make a significant threat. The power of a pawn lies in its expendability. Here White has the kernel of a discovery on d4 and e3, where his bishop is masked by a pawn. The bishop has a loose knight as a potential target; after 1. d4-d5, Black retreats his queen to e7 and White then wins a piece with BxN.

Since the target of the attack—the knight—can’t strike back at the bishop attacking it, the threat the pawn makes need not be enormous. Almost any threat against a piece would do, in other words; it wouldn’t need to be against the queen or a loose piece. The key to this idea in this position just is noticing it. This can be done by experimenting routinely with possible pawn advances, or by habitually looking at a piece like the bishop on e3 and following its potential path through any pieces in its way that might be moved, or by focusing on loose enemy pieces like the knight on b6.