Promotion happens when a pawn reaches the last rank on the opponent’s side (rank 8 for White, rank 1 for Black). The pawn must be replaced right away by a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of the same color.
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1.
Good to know:
- Players almost always choose a queen, the strongest piece.
- Choosing anything else is called underpromotion. Sometimes a knight is better because it gives check or a fork right away.
- A pawn can never become a king.
- Promotion ignores what you already have, so you can have two queens at once.
In notation, promotion is written like e8=Q or e8=N.
Related terms: En passant · Stalemate · Chess notation
