Queen's pawn

The queen's pawn is a pawn on the d-file, the vertical column on which the queens begin the game. In the initial position, White's pawn is on d2 and Black's is on d7. Modern texts also call them d-pawns.

The expression comes from the traditional naming of files. The e-file gives the king's pawn, the b- and g-files hold knight pawns, and the a- and h-files hold rook pawns. The relationship comes from the initial pieces behind those pawns.

A queen's pawn is not every pawn on the queenside. The a-, b-, and c-files form the queenside flank, while the d-file is central. The name also identifies the file on which the pawn stands; a capture can change that location-based description.