Promotion is what happens when a pawn reaches the last rank: it becomes a queen, rook, bishop or knight. A promotion tactic uses that threat to win material or give mate.
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A new queen is worth nine pawns. A pawn one step from promoting can force the opponent to give up a whole piece to stop it.
How to do it
- 1Count how many moves your pawn needs to reach the last rank.
- 2Check what controls the promotion square, and clear it if you can.
- 3Choose the new piece carefully: a queen is usually best, but not always.
For your level
A pawn that reaches the end can become a queen. Watch every pawn near the end.
Common mistakes
- Promoting to a queen when that gives stalemate.
- Ignoring an enemy pawn until it is one step from the end.
Questions
- Can you have two queens in chess?
- Yes. A pawn can promote to a queen even if your first queen is still on the board. You can have up to nine queens in theory.