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Pawn Promotion and Checkmate with the
Queen
by Mark Donlan
As mentioned in the second article of this series, the pawns represented the
foot-soldiers in the Indian army. And, as with many soldiers, the pawn can
undergo a battlefield promotion. In chess, this is achieved when any pawn
reaches the last rank.
If a pawn is advanced to the last rank (the eighth rank for White and the first
rank for Black), it is promoted to either a queen, rook, bishop, or knight. A
new king cannot be chosen; there can never be more than one king of each
color on the board. However, theoretically at least, it is possible to have as
many as nine queens, or ten bishops, or ten knights, or ten rooks. Promoting
to any piece other than a queen is referred to as underpromotion. No other
piece can be changed into anything else no matter what square it reaches.
Typically, a new queen is chosen after promotion because this is the strongest
piece. However, as Davidson indicates in A Short History of Chess, the
convention of choosing a queen was a result of the queen once being the
weakest piece on the board, and a battlefield promotion is made to the lowest
grade of officer's rank. There were also other conventions that once existed
with regard to pawn promotion. For instance, the pawn could only promote to
the type of piece on which file it stood or started from. It was circa 1600 that
a pawn could be promoted to any piece that had been removed from the
board. Indeed, it is said that Philidor subscribed to this practice in his written
works.
Murray, in A History of Chess, in referring to Four-Handed Chess notes that
"when a player lost all his superior men save his Boat and one Pawn he may
promote this Pawn on any square of the opposite edge to the rank of any
piece, King included." In Hindustani chess, a pawn on its seventh rank was
barred from advancing unless promotion to "the master-piece of the file" was
legally possible; meaning a pawn reaching a8 could only become a rook and
only if a rook had already been removed from the board. In Parsi chess, a
pawn that promoted to a knight could immediately make an extra move on
that turn! In Malay chess a pawn could only promote on the corner squares; if
any other pawn reached the last rank, it would need to make additional moves
in accordance with a complicated process. In Siamese chess the pawns began
the game on the third rank and reached promotion on the sixth, where they
immediately became a queen (Met).
When the queen was considered as a counselor (vizier) there were no
objections to having more than one counselor available to the king. However,
when the queen began to be considered as the consort to the king moral
objections were raised about having multiple queens on the board. In
England, France, and Italy a new queen would be referred to by a different
name than the original queen, apparently in a bid to preserve the uniqueness
of the original queen. In some quarters there was debate as to whether it was
allowable for an ostensibly male pawn to change to a female piece.
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It was not until the mid-nineteenth century that promotion to any piece
became universally accepted. Davidson gives the following dates and authors:
1765, Lambe: Promoted only to a lost piece.
1790, Philidor: Promoted only to a lost piece.
1814, Saul: Promoted to any piece.
1828, Sarratt: Promoted to any piece.
To promote a pawn you advance it to the last rank and then replace it with the
newly promoted piece on that square.
[FEN "8/4P3/8/8/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
Thus, from the diagrammed position, the white pawn would be moved to
square e8 and then be removed from the board to be replaced with the newly
promoted piece.
[FEN "8/4P3/8/8/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
In algebraic notation, if a new queen were chosen, this is written as e8=Q (or
e8Q):
[FEN "8/4Q3/8/8/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
This means that in certain positions a single pawn is all that is needed to win
the game. In this next section we will examine how to checkmate using a king
and queen versus a lone king. A checkmate occurs when a king is under
attack and has no subsequent legal move to get out of check (see the third
article in this series).
Let's start with a basic position in which White promotes a pawn to a queen
and then delivers checkmate to the black king:
[FEN "4k3/8/3K4/4P3/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
1.Ke6!
This is the only move that wins. See the opposition game from article three.
1.e6?? is a mistake because of 1...Kd8 and now White cannot control the
promotion square and the game will be a draw. (1...Kf8?? would be a mistake
for Black, because it allows White to gain control of the e8 promotion square.
2.Kd7 and now Black cannot stop the pawn from promoting.) 2.e7+Ke8
3.Ke6 is stalemate.
1...Kd8
Black has no choice but to give ground. When one side is in a situation in
which any move worsens their position, it is known as zugzwang. This is a
German word meaning "compulsion to move."
1...Kf8 is similar; with 2.Kd7 White gains control of the e8 promotion square.
2.Kf7
[FEN "3k4/5K2/8/4P3/8/8/8/8 b - - 0 2"]
The white king controls the e8 promotion square.
2...Kd7
Black is still trying to hold the e8-square.
3.e6+
But now has to move off.
3...Kd6
3...Kd8 is met by 4.e7+and 5.e8=Q.
4.e7 Kd5
In general the side with the lone ling should try to stay near the center of the
board and not get cornered near the edge.
5.e8=Q Kd4 6.Qe6
[FEN "8/5K2/4Q3/8/3k4/8/8/8 b - - 0 6"]
The simplest method is to place the queen one file (or rank) and two squares
removed from the black king in an L-shaped pattern. As we shall see later
this is a knight's move away from the black king.
6...Kc5 7.Qd7
Keeping things simple by staying a knight's move away from the king.
7...Kc4 8.Qd6 Kc3 9.Qd5 Kc2 10.Qd4
[FEN "8/5K2/8/8/3Q4/8/2k5/8 b - - 0 10"]
Notice how with each move the queen corrals the king closer and closer to
the edge of the board.
10...Kb3 11.Qc5 Kb2 12.Qc4 Kb1 13.Qe2
[FEN "8/5K2/8/8/8/8/4Q3/1k6 b - - 0 13"]
Once the king moves to the edge of the board, trap it there by moving the
queen to the adjacent rank or file.
13...Ka1 14.Ke6
[FEN "8/8/4K3/8/8/8/4Q3/k7 b - - 0 14"]
Now the white king can leisurely approach to assist the white queen. It has
not been necessary to move the white king up until now.
However, note that 14.Qc2?? would be a mistake because it places the black
king in stalemate and this is a draw.
[FEN "8/5K2/8/8/8/8/2Q5/k7 b - - 0 14"]
The black king is not in check and has no legal move on the board. This
results in a stalemate, when the game would be declared a draw. Quite an
achievement for the losing side! So, once the king is cornered make sure to
leave it with legal moves until checkmate can be delivered.
14...Kb1
The black king can only mark time along the first rank.
15.Kd5 Kc1 16.Kc4 Kb1 17.Kb3 Kc1 18.Qc2# 1-0
[FEN "8/8/8/8/8/1K6/2Q5/2k5 b - - 0 18"]
The black king is in check and has no legal move, so it is checkmate. The
white queen puts the black king in check, and the queen is protected from
capture by the white king. If the white king were, say, on square c4, then it
would only be a check, because the black king could capture the undefended
white queen on c2. This is why the two pieces must work together in a
coordinated manner to deliver checkmate.
Here are some playing exercises and puzzles based on the themes of pawn
promotion and checkmate. For the playing exercises, play out the positions
against another player, switching colors with each turn, until you think you
have determined the best play from that position, then check the answers
provided below.
Playing Exercises
Panno, O Najdorf, M
Argentina, 1968
[FEN "8/2k5/8/8/6K1/8/7P/8 w - - 0 18"]
White to move and win
Can White promote the pawn or can Black stop it?
Jimenez Zerquera, Eleazar Ivkov, Borislav
Havana, 1962
[FEN "8/8/8/8/3k4/2p5/2K5/8 w - - 0 63"]
White to play and draw
Maroczy, Geza Marshall, Frank James
Monte Carlo (11), 24.02.1903
[FEN "8/8/8/6p1/7k/8/6K1/8 b - - 0 58"]
Black to move and win
Berger, Johann Mason, James
DSB06.Kongress Breslau (16), 26.07.1889
[FEN "8/p7/8/k7/5K2/8/8/8 w - - 0 67"]
White to move and draw
Puzzles
1. White mates in two
[FEN "4k3/8/4K3/8/8/8/4Q3/8 w - - 0 1"]
2. White mates in two
[FEN "8/8/8/8/8/k2K4/7Q/8 w - - 0 1"]
3. White mates in two
[FEN "8/8/2p5/2Q5/7k/5K2/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
4. White mate in two
[FEN "8/6p1/6P1/8/6Q1/4K3/8/5k2 w - - 0 1"]
5. White mates in two
[FEN "8/P5Q1/1k6/8/3K4/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
6. White mates in two
[FEN "8/8/8/8/7Q/8/3P2p1/4K1k1 w - - 0 1"]
7. White mates in six moves
[FEN "K1k5/P1Pp4/1p1P4/8/p7/P2P4/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
Here is an advanced puzzle that should given even seasoned players a hard
time:
8. White mates in maximum of eleven moves
[FEN "8/8/5K2/8/8/8/4Q3/7k w - - 0 1"]
White to play and checkmate in maximum of eleven moves without moving
the king.
9. Construction Task
J ohn Nunn posed this construction task: White has a king, queen, and two
pawns against a lone black king. Create a position in which White to move
cannot win and the game is a draw.
Playing Exercises Answers
Panno, O Najdorf, M
Argentina, 1968
18.Kg5 1-0
White has to control the h8 promotion square with the king in order to win.
1.Kf5 and 1.Kh5 also win. But any pawn move by White allows the black
king to access square h8 where it cannot be evicted.
Jimenez Zerquera, Eleazar Ivkov, Borislav
Havana, 1962
63.Kc1 -
The white king controls the promotion square and Black cannot win.
Maroczy, Geza Marshall, Frank James
Monte Carlo (11), 24.02.1903
58...Kg4 59.Kh2 Kf3 60.Kh3 g4+ 61.Kh2 Kf2 62.Kh1 Kg3 63.Kg1 Kh3 0-
1
Berger, Johann Mason, James
DSB06.Kongress Breslau (16), 26.07.1889
In the game Berger played 67.Ke4? and lost after 67...Kb4 68.Kd3 Kb3
69.Kd2 Kb2 0-1
However 67.Ke3! is a draw: 67...Kb4 68.Kd2 Kb3 69.Kc1 Ka2 (If 69...a5,
then 70.Kb1 and the white king cannot be evicted from the corner square a1.)
70.Kc2 and because the white king has the opposition, Black cannot win.
Puzzle Answers
1. White mates in two
White to mate in two moves. Black's king must go either to f8 or d8; thus,
White's queen mates next move by simultaneously attacking the squares h8
and b8. That can be achieved by playing the queen to any of three squares
(e5, h2, or b2).
1.Qe5
1.Qh2 Kf8 (1...Kd8 2.Qb8#) 2.Qh8#; 1.Qb2 Kd8 (1...Kf8 2.Qh8#) 2.Qb8#.
1...Kd8
1...Kf8 2.Qh8#.
2.Qb8#
2. White mates in two
1.Kc4 Ka4 2.Qa2#
3. White mates in two
1.Qf5
It is helpful to ask whether it is stalemate, because beginners will often agree
that it is forgetting that the black pawn can now move.
1...c5 2.Qg4#
The student has to see that 1.Qf5 is not stalemate because of 1...c5.
4. White mate in two
1.Qg5
Here it is important to see that 1.Qg3 is stalemate.
1...Ke1 2.Qg1#
5. White mates in two
1.a8Q Kb5 2.Qgb7#
6. White mates in two
1.Kd1 Kf1 2.Qe1#
7. White mates in six moves
1.d4 b5 2.d5 b4 3.axb4 a3 4.b5 a2 5.b6 a1Q 6.b7#
8. White mates in maximum of eleven moves
White to play and checkmate in maximum of eleven moves without moving
the king.
1.Qg4 Kh2 2.Qe4 Kg1 3.Qf3 Kh2 4.Qf1 Kg3 5.Qe2 Kf4 6.Qd3 Kg4 7.Qe3
Kh4 8.Qg5+ Kh3 9.Qg1 Kh4 10.Qg2 Kh5 11.Qg5#
9. Construction Task
[FEN "7k/7P/5PK1/7Q/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
Later in this series we will look at another special move with the pawn called
en passant and further explore the underpromotion theme.
A PDF file of this article, along with all previous articles, is available in the
ChessCafe.com Archives.
If you have an exercise or suggestion that you would like to include in the
ChessCafe.com Chess Curriculum, please write to us via our Contact Page.
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