Queen versus pawn ending

In this ending, one side has a king and queen, while the other has a king and pawn. Promotion means moving the pawn to the final rank and replacing it, usually with a queen. The queen normally wins by stopping the pawn with checks and later capturing it, but some very advanced pawns can draw.

The normal winning method

The standard winning method is to check until the defending king must stand directly in front of its own pawn. While the king occupies that square, it temporarily blocks promotion. The queen side uses the gained time to bring its king closer, then repeats the process until the pawn can be captured without allowing a stalemate defense.

The stalemate exceptions

Stalemate occurs when the player to move is not in check but has no legal move, so the game is drawn. This explains the best-known exceptions. When the pawn is one step from promotion, rook pawns on the outside a- and h-files and bishop pawns on the c- and f-files can draw if their king is correctly placed and the attacking king is too far away. A file is a vertical column of the board.

Knight pawns on the b- and g-files and central pawns on the d- and e-files normally lose even when equally advanced. The file alone is not enough to decide the position, however. The locations of both kings, whose turn it is, and any immediate checks can change the result. A nearby attacking king can also defeat the stalemate defenses available to rook and bishop pawns.