Special moves
Promotion
A pawn reaches the last rank and becomes a queen (or another piece).
What is the promotion?
When a pawn reaches the far side of the board it promotes — exchanged for a queen, rook, bishop or knight of the same colour. Almost always that means a new queen, instantly turning a humble pawn into the strongest piece on the board.
Why the promotion matters
Promotion is what most endgames are really about: the side that queens first usually wins. But it is also a middlegame theme, where a far-advanced passed pawn ties the defender in knots and a promotion combination ends the game on the spot.
How to use it to win
Push and support passed pawns — they grow more dangerous every rank. Look for promotion tactics where a check, deflection or clearance lets the pawn touch the last rank before the opponent can stop it.
Try an example puzzle
A real promotion puzzle from the app. White to move — find the idea, then reveal the line.
7 
3 
a f 
h 1 Show solution
1. Qf8+ Rxf8 2. gxf8=Q#
Drill the promotion on thousands of real puzzles, matched to your rating.