A pawn minority is a positional concept where one side has fewer pawns than the opponent on a given wing — typically two pawns against three.
This imbalance appears frequently in structures arising from the Queen’s Gambit Declined or certain Slav Defense variations. The side with fewer pawns is not necessarily at a disadvantage: by advancing those pawns into contact with the opponent’s majority, it can trigger exchanges that leave structural weaknesses in the opponent’s camp — a backward pawn, an isolated pawn, or doubled pawns.
In practice, if you are on the minority side, your goal is straightforward: advance your pawns to force exchanges and create a long-term weakness in the opponent’s structure, then target it with your pieces. If you are defending against a minority attack, avoid letting your pawns become fragmented and keep your pieces active to counter the structural pressure.