Queen vs Pawn on the Seventh: Center Pawn Win

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

Queen versus a lone pawn one square from promotion is one of the great tablebase-decided endings, and the answer depends entirely on which file the pawn is on.

The winning loop. The queen delivers a check or a pin that forces the enemy king to step in front of its own pawn. That block costs the defender a move, and in that spare moment your king walks one square closer. Cycle after cycle, your king closes the distance until it helps capture the pawn.

Start with the only check that works. Here the pawn queens next move, so you have to check at once, and Qc7+ is the single check that does not drop the queen. Qd3+ loses her to Kxd3.

Why the center pawn loses. For central and knight pawns, forcing the defending king onto the queening square is never stalemate, so the queen always regains the tempo it needs. Only rook pawns and bishop pawns escape through a stalemate trick.

In this drill the defender queens instantly the moment you stop cycling correctly. Keep the checks flowing and bring the king.