Queening Races in Pawn Endgames

Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.

When both sides race to promote, the result often turns on a single tempo and the geometry of the board rather than on who counts fastest.

The tools. The side that queens first can frequently win the opponent's newborn queen with an immediate check: the check drives the enemy king in front of its own pawn or onto a square where a follow-up skewer or fork collects the queen. The rule W. Bähr gave his name to is a different one: a geometric test for blocked rook's pawns with a distant passed pawn.

What to look for. A rook's pawn and the queening square's colour, the diagonal from your promotion square to the enemy king, and whether your queen checks with tempo. If it does, the race is won even when the count looks equal.

In this drill both pawns are one step from queening. Promote with the check that wins, not the one that merely draws: the opponent will queen and hold the draw if you misjudge the geometry.