Pawn promotion

Pawn promotion: what is it

Promotion is the rule that a pawn that reaches the last rank (the 8th for White, the 1st for Black) must become another piece on that same move: a queen, a rook, a bishop or a knight.

A pawn cannot stay a pawn and cannot become a king. The new piece is your color. Most often players choose a queen, the strongest piece, which is why the promotion square itself is so valuable.

What is underpromotion

Underpromotion is promoting a pawn not to a queen, but to a rook, a bishop or (most often) a knight. It sounds strange: why take a piece weaker than a queen?

But in a specific position a weaker piece can sometimes do what a queen cannot:

  • A knight gives check or a fork from where a queen cannot reach (the knight moves in an L-shape).
  • A rook sometimes saves you from stalemate: a queen would take the king's last square, while a rook leaves it a move.

Why there is a fight for promotion

An extra queen almost always means winning the game. That is why a passed pawn on the 6th - 7th rank is a huge force, and the opponent tries with all their might to stop it or trade it off.

Important: promotion by itself does not win the game yet. Always calculate one move ahead: will the new piece be captured right away, and will you have enough force left to give mate?

What to do when a pawn is about to promote

  1. Check whether the promotion square is free and whether the opponent attacks it.
  2. See what an ordinary queen gives you: a check, a mate, a material gain?
  3. If the queen gets traded off immediately or leads to stalemate, look for an underpromotion.
  4. Separately check promoting to a knight: is there a check with a fork on the king and another piece?
  5. Evaluate the position after promotion: will you have enough force left to win?

Tips for choosing the right piece

For kids

A pawn is a little hero who has walked all the way to the end of the board and gets a "promotion". Usually it becomes a queen, the strongest piece.

But sometimes it is better to become a knight: only the knight can jump in an L-shape, and from its new square it can attack the king and another piece at the same time.

For adults

By default, promote to a queen. The only exceptions are when concrete calculation shows a benefit: a knight with check and a fork or a rook to avoid stalemate.

Also remember the other side: if the opponent trades off your new piece, you may be left with insufficient material to mate.

Examples

Try it yourself: make a move on the board. If you get stuck, press "Show solution".

1. Promoting to a queen: instant mate

Idea: the white pawn on b7 has reached the next-to-last rank. The white king on e6 has already taken away the d7, e7 and f7 squares from the black king.

1.b8=Q# - the pawn becomes a queen and checks the king along the eighth rank. The d8 and f8 squares are attacked by the queen, the rest by the king. This is mate.

Solution: 1.b8=Q# - mate: the queen gives check along the eighth rank, and the king on e6 has taken away the d7, e7 and f7 squares.

2. Promoting to a queen with check, but the rook is on guard

Idea: the d7 pawn is eager to become a queen, but the black rook on g8 controls the whole eighth rank, including the promotion square d8.

1.d8=Q+? - promotion with check. The d8 square is protected by the king on e7, but this does not help: Black plays 1...Rxd8 2.Kxd8 and simply trades the rook for the new queen.

White is left with a king and a knight, and that is not enough to mate. A draw. The winning move is 1.Ne8!: the knight blocks the eighth rank from the rook, and on the next move the pawn promotes to a queen. The lesson: promotion does not win by itself, so calculate what will be left on the board.

Solution: 2.d8=Q - the pawn calmly promotes to a queen, and White has a queen and a knight against a rook: this is a win.

3. Underpromotion to a knight: a fork on the king and queen

Idea: Black already has a queen on f7, and promoting to a queen on d8 even loses: after 1.d8=Q? Black gives mate themselves with 1...Qf1#. But a knight on d8 attacks both c6 and f7.

1.d8=N+! - underpromotion to a knight with check. This is a fork: the knight attacks the king on c6 and the queen on f7 at the same time.

The king has to get out of check, and then 2.Nxf7 takes the queen. An ordinary queen could not make this move: this is a case where the knight is stronger than the queen.

Solution: 2.Nxf7 - the knight takes the queen. Promoting to a queen would lose at once: 1.d8=Q? Qf1#.

A mini-workout for every day

  • When your pawn reaches the 7th rank, first check promoting to a queen: is there a mate or a check?
  • If the queen gets traded off right away, count what will be left to give mate.
  • Always look separately at promoting to a knight: is there a check with a fork?
  • If a queen gives stalemate, remember promoting to a rook.

Promotion is a choice. Nine times out of ten it is a queen, but the ability to see the tenth case is what makes a strong player.