Week 2: Pawn promotion
12-week course · lesson plan for a 60-minute live group class · for the coach
Lesson plan · Worksheet · Large print · Answer key · 12-week syllabus
Learning objective
Students know that a pawn reaching the last row becomes a queen (or rook, bishop or knight), and can spot when a pawn can promote.
Before class (under 10 minutes)
Prerequisites: Week 1: how each piece moves and captures.
- Open "Week 2 demonstration" in the lesson library.
- Have "Week 2 practice" ready in the Puzzles list.
Class plan, minute by minute
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 0–5 min | Warm-up One question from last week: “How does a pawn capture?” Students answer with a card or on video. |
| 5–20 min | Shared board: promotion Load "Week 2 demonstration". Promote the pawn; then show a promotion that captures; then the king walking its pawn home. Give one student control for the king-and-pawn walk. |
| 20–35 min | Puzzles on their own boards Puzzles → "Week 2 practice". Six promotions, including one for Black and one that is checkmate. Mixed-level group: "Week 2 all levels". |
| 35–52 min | Play each other Pair students and start. Challenge: try to get a pawn to the last row in your game. |
| 52–60 min | Review Review questions below. Preview next week: the back-rank checkmate. |
Shared-board demonstration
In the lesson app: Lesson library → Week 2 demonstration: Pawn promotion.
White to move: make a new queen.
You may choose a queen, rook, bishop or knight. A queen is almost always best.
Answer: e8=Q. The pawn reaches the last row and becomes a queen.
White to move: promote and win the rook at the same time.
A pawn can promote by capturing too. Compare a8=Q, where the rook simply takes the new queen (Rxa8), with axb8=Q+.
Answer: axb8=Q+. The pawn captures diagonally onto the last row, takes the rook and becomes a queen, with check.
White to move and win: get the pawn to e8. (Coach plays it out, for example Kd6 Kd8 e6 Ke8 e7 Kf7 Kd7 and e8=Q next.)
The pawn can’t do it alone: the black king would take it. The king clears the way.
Answer: Kd6 or Kf6 both win: the king walks in front of its pawn and guards the squares it needs.
Puzzles on every student’s own board
In class: Puzzles → choose the set → Start puzzles. Each student solves on their own board while you watch every board live. A wrong move gets a reason or a hint (for example “look for a check”), and any checkmate counts as solved.
- Everyone: Week 2 practice: Pawn promotion (6 puzzles). The worksheet uses the same puzzles.
- Mixed-level group: Week 2 all levels: Pawn promotion (14 puzzles): the 4 easier ones first, then the practice set, then 4 harder ones, including real-game puzzles from Lichess. Each student goes at their own pace, so beginners stay with the easier puzzles while stronger students reach the harder ones.
- A whole group that needs more support: Week 2 easier: Pawn promotion. A whole group ready for more: Week 2 harder: Pawn promotion.
Check for understanding
- What can a pawn become when it reaches the last row? Answer: A queen, rook, bishop or knight (usually a queen).
- Which row is the last row for a black pawn? Answer: The 1st row.
- Can a pawn promote by capturing? Answer: Yes: it captures diagonally onto the last row and promotes.
Help for beginners
Point at the last row before each puzzle. In Black puzzles the board turns itself around; each student can still flip their own board.
For stronger students
"Week 2 harder": real-game promotion puzzles from Lichess, some with checkmate.
Every position, answer and hint on this page is checked move by move with chess.js before it is published. Real-game puzzles come from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).