this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
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someone explain the pawn changing rule to me i dont know chess very well. I knew about the queen thing ofc but the other pieces i didnt.
If a pawn reaches the other side of the board it can turn into any piece. There's almost no reason to get anything other than a queen though so that's what everyone always takes.
Only exceptions are cases where queening the pawn leaves the opponent with no valid moves but not in check, i.e. stalemate. That's somewhat rare but it is important to watch out for. Sometimes you need to promote to bishop or rook instead.
There are also conceivable situations where you would want to promote to a knight, since all the spaces the knight sees are spaces the queen can't.
100% true. In fact, there are even more situations where promoting to a knight is useful, since it can help you keep tempo if you're simultaneously gaining material and keeping the opponent in check.
When a pawn reaches the back row, it can be exchanged for any major piece. Usually people choose to sub in a queen, but in some circumstances that’s not the best move.
If your opponent cannot win, they can still go for a tie (stalemate). If they cannot make a legal move, but their king is not currently in check, that’s a stalemate. If your pawn-turned-queen would bring this about, you’re better off converting the pawn into a bishop, rook, or knight (depending on the circumstances).