We all know that having pawns doubled up on the board is not the best scenario for the player whose pawns are doubled. Doubled pawns refer to having one pawn directly in front of another, or even on the same file. This happens when you use one pawn to take an opponents piece, thus leaving that pawn on the same file as another one of your pawns. Sometimes during a chess game this appears to be an almost unavoidable option for either you or your opponent.
When your opponent has doubled up their pawns, as described above, one of the best moves that you can make is to block their path with a pawn of your own. This of course assumes that you have a pawn on that same file to block with. Blocking the doubled pawns path, as opposed to simply taking one of the pawns creates a situation for your opponent where their primary pieces are limited in their movements. Considering that your opponents doubled pawns present relatively little threat to you in the overall scheme of things, capturing them may not be as helpful as one would first assume.
Anytime that you can limit your opponent's movement of his or her primary pieces you have a tactical advantage. If you find yourself with doubled pawns it may be prudent to simply sacrifice the front pawn quickly. Typically capturing one of your opponent's pawns does this. This results in a slightly weakened defense for your opponent as well as providing you with the freedom to move the back pawn as you normally would during the course of a chess game. Doubled pawns are not ideal, but doubled pawns are sometimes the only apparent option when we find ourselves getting at a stuck point in a game.