Jul 29 · MorningPromotion endgame
One Promotion: the Difference Between Mate and Draw
The black king is trapped in the corner and your passed pawn is one step from promotion. But promote to a queen or a rook — the outcome is night and day.
Prerequisites: Two Rooks: Five Forcing Checks Down the Ladder
When a passed pawn reaches the last rank, you may exchange it for a queen, rook, bishop or knight — this is called promotion. Most of the time promoting to a queen is strongest, because the queen attacks along ranks, files and diagonals.
In this position the black king is already boxed into h8 by its own pawns and the edge of the board. Your white king is approaching to protect, and the passed pawn on g7 is ready to strike. The question is not whether to promote, but what to promote to: a queen gives immediate check and closes the net; a rook gives the win away.
Note the notation: a promotion move is written with five characters, e.g. g7g8q means "the pawn moves from g7 to g8 and promotes to a queen"; the final q is Queen, change it to r for Rook.
Today's Challenge
Three moves: get into place, promote, close the net
After each move the opponent replies automatically. First bring the white king to the protecting square, then choose the promotion piece (study the difference between queen and rook), and finally deliver mate.
Review: Promotion is a multiple-choice question
- Kf7 first: the white king controls the promotion square g8 and pins the black king in the corner.
- g8=Q+ promotes to a queen: the queen's diagonal firepower keeps the checks coming — something a rook cannot do.
- Qg6# closes the net: queen and king cooperate to seal the last escape squares.
- Before promoting ask yourself — do you need full rank-file-diagonal coverage (queen), or just one line (rook/bishop/knight)?