by iakul

Created on: August 25, 2009   Last Updated: August 26, 2009

Pawns, although they start out as the weakest pieces on a chess board, have a unique game-ending ability in that they are allowed to be promoted to either queens, knights, rooks or bishops once they advance to the eighth rank, the row of squares nearest to your opponent. This has been referenced to in quite a number of works of fiction. In Through The Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll's famous work, the protagonist Alice is trapped in an alternate world as a pawn and has to journey to the eight rank to be promoted as a queen, allowing her to escape from the world.

A player's ability to promote is often a critical factor in endgames and the most usual scenarios that occur are king and a pawn versus a king endings.

In these scenarios, the first factor that one should consider is whether a pawn can be promoted without the assistance of the king. This can be determined by using the "rule of the square", and should be easy enough to grasp once a player has learned the theory behind it.

It is often the case that the opposing king is within the square though, and it is then that the concept of key squares come into play. Key squares are squares where, if a player's king occupies it, he can force some gain such as the promotion of a pawn or the capture of an opponent's pawn. Key squares depend on the position of the pawn. It is a must for players who wish to master pawn promotion to learn how to determine key squares.

The concept of zugzwang also comes into play quite frequently during king and a pawn versus king endgame, as well as quite a number of other scenarios where pawn promotion is required to secure a win. Zugzwang occurs when it is a player's turn to move, and any move he makes will result in him being at a disadvantage. It would be better off for him not to move at all, but due to the rules of the game, he has to make a move.

Here's a simple king and a pawn versus king endgame example which illustrates this concept. The black king is on e5. White has a single pawn on e4, and his king is on d3. If Black could choose not to move, it would certainly be the optimal arrangement for him. His king is blocking White's pawn, preventing its promotion and should he manage to keep this up indefinitely, the game will result in a draw. He however does not have this option, and any move he makes cannot prevent the white king from moving to d4 on his turn. Having the white king on d4 will allow White to control the square of e5, preventing Black from moving his king back there, and on White's next turn, he can advance his pawn to e5, bringing it one step closer to advancement.

The principle of zugzwang can however also be used against you, and one should take care to avoid it.

Assume that in the previous scenario, White has managed to push his pawn all the way to the e6 rank. Using his king on d6 to support, he pushes the pawn to e7, and Black moves his king to e8. White has been put in a position of zugzwang. Should White move to e6, Black finds himself without a move, and forces a draw by stalemate. If White makes any other move, Black captures the pawn, which also results in a draw.

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