In
chess, the term used to describe the replacing of a
pawn with a piece of a higher value (
Queen,
Knight,
Bishop, or
Rook may be substituted) once it reaches the final rank of the
chessboard.
For example, a player may add a second queen, or replace one lost earlier. Although the queen is generally the piece of choice, special circumstances may rarely call for a different piece (for example, if you wish to avoid stalemating your opponent upon promotion).
Pawn promotion is the driving force of the endgame in chess; when a pawn is 'queened' its owner will almost always gain a strong, if not decisive, upper hand in play.