Brainy pawns
This is a lesson about promoting pawns to a piece other than the queen. A good reason for not choosing a queen is to avoid stalemate!
With few pieces on the board and only a king left for your opponent, you must be careful. Accidental stalemates are very common in these situations.
In examples 1 and 2 White can queen his pawn. Nice material profit! But… also a stalemate.
By promoting to another piece, White is heading for the win.
Take your time to study the examples and try to understand the differences between both positions.
In example 3 White can take the knight and safely promote to a queen. Black’s king cannot move and is not in check. However, it is not stalemate. Black still has a bishop that can move.
What do you have to do?
Find the best way to promote your pawn. Beware of stalemate!
So what should White do? Take the rook and turn his pawn into a rook! Click on the play button to watch the moves.
Now, Black’s king can step forward (to the green square). It is not stalemate. Even better: in the next move Black is mated!
Could White also prevent stalemate by promoting his pawn to a bishop or a knight?
Yes, he can.
But he’d better not.
It is impossible to force a check with only a bishop and a king or only a knight and a king. Being up in material doesn’t help you here.
