Expert tactic · 5 of 9
Underpromotion
A pawn promotes to a knight, a rook or a bishop, because a queen would be worse.
- Learn how it worksThree examples with Capra. You play each one yourself.Three examples with CapraStart the lesson
- Practise on real puzzlesPractise on puzzles80 underpromotion puzzles, from easy to very hard.0 of 80 solvedGo to the puzzlesGo to the puzzles
Three times a queen is wrong
A queen is nearly always the right piece. These are the cases where another piece does more.
Knight fork
The pawn becomes a knight with check, and forks the king and the queen.
Knight mate
The pawn becomes a knight and gives mate. A queen would have been lost.
Rook, not stalemate
A queen would be stalemate. A rook leaves the king one square and mates next move.
Underpromotions in numbers
Counted from the 250 underpromotions in our puzzle library, all taken from real games- 1 in 1200
of our puzzles has an underpromotion in it.
- 38%
of them win the queen. No other prize is as common.
- 79%
of them come in the endgame.
Which piece makes the first move
- Pawn72%
- Queen11%
- King7%
- Rook6%
- Bishop3%
What it wins
- Queen38%
- Checkmate22%
- Rook14%
- Knight2%
- Bishop1%
Good to know
Underpromotions: common questions
What is underpromotion in chess?
Underpromotion is promoting a pawn to a knight, a rook or a bishop when you could have had a queen. It is right only when the weaker piece does something a queen cannot, or avoids something a queen would cause.
Why would you promote to a knight?
A knight moves in a way a queen cannot. A new knight can give check, fork the king and another piece, or even give mate, from a square where a queen would attack nothing that matters.
Why would you promote to a rook or a bishop?
To avoid stalemate. A queen sometimes takes every square away from the enemy king without giving check, and the game is drawn. A rook or a bishop covers fewer squares, so the king can still move.
How often is underpromotion the right move?
Rarely. A queen is the right choice almost every time. Look for a knight check and for stalemate before you promote, and take the queen if you find neither.