Defend against promotion
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In this level, your opponent is threatening to promote a pawn on the next move.
How can you defend against this kind of threat?
There are two main ways to defend against promotion:
- Protect the promotion square.
- Block the promotion square.
In this level, you must protect the promotion square.
Examples
White is bishop and pawn up, but Black has a passed pawn threatening to promote.
The only way to stop the pawn is to play Kd2, and protect the promotion square.
Rooks and queens can stop a passed pawn from behind:
Black is threatening to promote the passed pawn with c1=Q.
The only way to defend is to play Rc6, x-ray protecting the promotion square with the rook.
White is up bishop for pawn, but Black has a passed pawn threatening to promote with a1=Q.
The only way to prevent the promotion is to play c4, clearing the way for the bishop e5 to protect a1.