Playboard
  • Lesson 12 of 32
  • Special moves
  • 2 min

Pawn Promotion in Chess: Turning a Pawn Into a Queen

A pawn that marches all the way to the other side of the board earns a reward: it is replaced by a stronger piece. That is promotion, and it is why pawns in the endgame are worth so much.

Step 1 of 3

  1. Watch it happen

    The white pawn on e7 steps to e8 and becomes a queen. The player chooses the new piece: a queen, rook, bishop or knight, never a king or another pawn. You can have two queens, or even more.

  2. Promote your pawn

    Move the pawn to the last rank. The board will ask which piece you want.

    Your move

    Promote the pawn on b7.

  3. Capture and promote

    A pawn can also promote by capturing onto the last rank. Pawns capture diagonally, so this pawn could take the knight on c8 or the rook on a8, and promote either way.

    Your move

    Capture the rook and promote.

What you learned

  • A pawn that reaches the last rank must be promoted to a queen, rook, bishop or knight.
  • A pawn can promote by moving straight forward or by capturing diagonally onto the last rank.
  • There is no limit on how many queens you can have.

In this course

Unit 1The pieces

  1. The Chessboard and How to Set Up the Pieces
  2. How the Rook Moves in Chess
  3. How the Bishop Moves in Chess
  4. How the Queen Moves in Chess
  5. How the King Moves in Chess
  6. How the Knight Moves in Chess
  7. How Pawns Move and Capture in Chess
  8. Chess Piece Values: What Each Piece Is Worth

Unit 2Special moves

  1. What Is Check in Chess, and How to Get Out of It
  2. How to Castle in Chess: Kingside and Queenside
  3. En Passant in Chess, Explained on the Board
  4. Pawn Promotion in Chess: Turning a Pawn Into a Queen

Unit 3Winning the game

  1. What Is Checkmate? Learn to Mate in One
  2. Stalemate in Chess: Why It's a Draw
  3. How to Checkmate With a King and Queen

Unit 4Your first tactics

  1. The Fork: Attack Two Pieces at Once
  2. The Pin in Chess: Freeze a Piece in Place
  3. The Skewer in Chess: Attack Through a Piece

Unit 5Checkmate patterns

  1. Back-Rank Mate in Chess: Spot It and Stop It
  2. Smothered Mate in Chess: The Knight's Checkmate
  3. The Ladder Mate: Checkmate With Two Rooks
  4. How to Checkmate With a King and Rook

Unit 6More tactics

  1. Discovered Attack in Chess: Unmask a Hidden Attacker
  2. Double Check in Chess: Two Checks at Once
  3. Removing the Defender in Chess: Take the Guard

Unit 7Opening principles

  1. Control the Centre: A Chess Opening Principle
  2. How to Develop Your Pieces in the Chess Opening
  3. Scholar's Mate: How It Works and How to Stop It
  4. Fool's Mate: The Fastest Checkmate in Chess

Unit 8Endgame basics

  1. The Rule of the Square in Chess Endgames
  2. The Opposition in Chess: King Endgame Basics
  3. King and Pawn vs King: How to Win the Ending

Lessons for every game

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