Rules and Basics
Promotion
Also known as:queening
Definition
Promotion is the rule where a pawn reaching the farthest rank (rank 8 for white, rank 1 for black) is automatically replaced with a piece of the player's choice: queen, rook, bishop, or knight. Queen promotion (queening) is most common, but knight promotion is sometimes better for a fork tactic.
Usage and Example
Notation: e8=Q (promotion to queen on e8) or e8=N (promotion to knight). The classic under-promotion in endgame studies is the rook promotion in the Saavedra position, played to avoid stalemate.
Grandmaster Tier Context
T1 Beginner for basic queening. Strategic under-promotion appears at T3 Competitive Local level when players start learning technical endgames.