Depending on the placement of the pieces, the endgame of queen versus pawn can be either winning or drawing, and the path to victory or defense may be very simple or quite complex. To win, the side with the queen must either capture the pawn or deliver checkmate. Let’s begin with the simplest cases:

The defending king is far from the pawn

If the defending king is far away, the queen can easily attack and capture the pawn. For example:

Black’s pawn is close to promotion, but the black king is too far away to defend it. White wins easily — for example, 1.Qe8 followed by capturing the pawn.

You shall not pass!

If you can place your king or queen directly in front of the pawn, the pawn cannot advance. The opponent has no way to attack the blocking piece, so the pawn is permanently stopped. For example:

Here the black king protects the pawn, but the pawn is blocked and cannot advance. White can then bring the other piece to capture the pawn and win.

The pawn is too far back

If the pawn is still far from promotion, it is usually easy to get the king or queen in front of it.

The black king supports the pawn, but since the pawn is only on the 5th rank, White has enough time to place the queen in front of it. For example: 1.Qh5 Kd4 2.Qe2.

The king is close to the pawn

The previous cases are all very easy wins, with no real need for puzzles. Keep in mind: if you can steer a practical game into one of these situations, the win will be straightforward.

Now let’s look at the first case that requires more precision: the pawn is on the 6th or 7th rank, supported by its king. Our king is not blocking the pawn, but is close enough to take part.

White wins with 1.Qf3+ Ke1, forcing the black king in front of its pawn. This is a key motif: with the pawn blocked and no immediate promotion threat, the white king has time to approach. After 2.Kc3 Kd1 3.Kd3 Kc1 4.Qxe2, White captures the pawn and wins.

In this position, both kings are on the same side of the pawn, and Black can win quickly by checkmate: 1...Qh7 2.Kf8 Kd7. If 3.g8=Q Qe7#, it’s checkmate. And if 3.Kf7, then 3...Qf5+ 4.Kg8 Qh5 5.Kf8 Qe8# also mates. (Black could also promote to a knight to avoid the immediate mate, but this still loses quickly.)

The level

The training positions in this level are of the latter type, with the pawn on a central or knight file (b, d, e, or g). In the second level, your king will be further away, often on the opposite side of the board. Positions with the pawn on a rook or bishop file (a, c, f, or h) are more complex, since the weaker side can use stalemate as an extra defensive resource. These will be covered later in the course.