A pawn reaching the last rank must become a new piece
When a white pawn reaches rank 8, or a black pawn reaches rank 1, it must become a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of its own color. Promotion is part of that same move. You cannot wait a turn, keep the pawn, or choose a king.
The new piece takes effect immediately. It may give check or checkmate from the promotion square. Replay a8=Q+: the pawn reaches a8, becomes a queen, and checks the black king along the eighth rank.
a8=Q+ promotes and gives check as one move.
Position FEN
4k3/P7/8/8/8/8/8/4K3 w - - 0 1Yes, you can have two queens
Promotion is not limited to replacing captured pieces. You can choose another queen while your original queen is still on the board. The same principle allows more rooks, bishops, or knights than you started with.
In a physical competition, obtain the correct piece using the event’s procedure. Do not assume an upside-down rook will be accepted as a queen. The rule gives you a choice of piece; it does not make every improvised physical marker equivalent.
In an app, check the selected promotion piece before confirming. Some interfaces offer automatic queen promotion, while others ask you to choose.
A capture can also be a promotion
A pawn may reach the last rank by moving straight ahead into an empty square or by capturing diagonally. In the second example, the g7 pawn takes the rook on h8 and becomes a queen: gxh8=Q+.
That notation records the whole move. The initial g identifies the pawn’s starting file, x marks the capture, h8 is the destination, and =Q is the chosen piece. The plus sign means the resulting position checks the king. There is no separate promotion turn afterward.
gxh8=Q+ captures the rook and immediately promotes to a queen.
Position FEN
4k2r/6P1/8/8/8/8/8/4K3 w - - 0 1Pause at any move in a diagram, then open that exact position in Chat to ask about it or in Coach to practice.
Why you might choose something other than a queen
A queen is usually the most useful choice because it has the widest range of moves. Choosing a rook, bishop, or knight instead is called underpromotion. A knight can give an attack a queen cannot, and a rook or bishop can sometimes avoid a stalemate that a queen would create.
Do not treat underpromotion as a trick to use for its own sake. Picture the position after each relevant choice. Is the opponent in check? Do they have a legal move? Can they capture the new piece? The correct choice depends on those answers.
For practice, replay the first diagram with a queen, then consider a knight on a8. The knight would not check the king on e8. Both promotions are legal in this position, but their immediate attacks are different.
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Sources and editorial notes
Examples are composed for teaching unless stated otherwise. Legal replay is checked with chess.js; this does not prove that every composed position arose in a real game. Demonstration lines illustrate an idea and are not claimed to be the unique best defense.
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