I actually agree with this to a greater extent. I think if chess is to truly be a strategy game, pawns should be able to promote to a rook max. Would make for much more tactical endgames rather than just chasing the king.
Pawn Promotion Is Ridiculous
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Jan 31, 2026
0
#123
I don't care. Chess is chess. You can't change that. If you want to change it, then make a variant where this is true. If that's not enough, play something else.
Jan 31, 2026
0
#124
I agree with EndgameEntusiast2357 because I'm a technical-precise player. The endgame is heaven for me.
MHX-DON wrote:
I just want to start out with how the current rule for pawn promotion is just silly and ridiculous and it shouldbe changed. The truth is that there is no rule for how many pieces you can promote to. Hypothetically, you can promote the pawns to 8 queens, 8 rooks, 8 knights or 8 bishops. In my opinion, pawn promotion should be restricted. Pawns should only able to promote up to 1 queen, 2 rooks, 2 knights or 2 bishops, only if the pieces are taken out. For example, the pawn cannot promote to another queen if the first queen is still alive on the board. The pawn cannot promote to a third rook if both rooks are still alive. Etc. This creates more strategies as the pawn will just be sitting on the 7th rank, wanting to promote to the queen but can't because the queen is still present. So they must decide which of the other pieces they want to bring back. This will solve the problem how easy it is to win in the end game where both players are just pawns racing and one gets the queens and then Check, Check, Check, Check, Checkmate! What!? See this is not very strategic. If the pawn promotion was restricted to how I said, then the end game will be more strategic and more entertaining to watch. What do you guys think?
I agree with you. Infact when we used to play chess in schools when we were young, we had this rule of restricted pawn promotion. But I only came to know about the current rule of unlimited(or upto 9) pawn promotion when I started playing chess here. By the way I'm from India, the country where chess originated. In our country the game is still played the old classical way by fillowing restricted pawn promotion rule. But I guess as the game gained popularity, people started to modify the rules and that became a trend. But ulltimately, whether this rule is correct or not may come down to individual preference. Let people play the way they like 😁
Mar 5, 2026
0
#129
if we play chess in real life most boards does not have extra piece this is actauly usefull
honestly the top post was a bit strict but then maybe a limit of 4 for each piece would be fine
It’s useful as I promoted my last 2 pawn to queens to win against my coach by checkmate
20 days ago
0
#132
I think you should only be able to promote a pawn to a minor piece on the first promotion, only on the second pawn promotion should you be able to promote to a major piece, but if you promote a third pawn then you win the game.
If the opponent is so lame that he allows you to promote all pawns then he deserves it
19 days ago
0
#134
How is it dumb Cus if ur pawn gets to the end then it’s just stuck. U don’t have to hate it if ur opponent uses it.
MHX-DON wrote:
Pawn Promotion Is Ridiculous
Play Chinese chess. There's no pawn promotion.
Among Kramnik's suggestions for chess rule changes:
No castling.
One step pawns.
Stalemate is a win.
Pawn moving sideways.
Play Chinese chess.
I came up with the idea of chess as a triathlon.
1 game of Western chess.
1 game of Chinese chess.
1 game of backgammon for a tie-breaker.
I call it "The Gamesters of Triskelion." from Star Trek.
Lent_Barsen wrote:
Changing the rules would break continuity with literally hundreds of years of chess history. One of my favorite things about chess is the unbroken connection with the past.
Chess has 2 lineages, you only know of 1.
Chaturanga has 2 descendants.
Western chess.
Chinese chess.
Chess can't be fixed, it is an unfixable disaster of a game. Any game with fixed rules isn't a true game, its just another rubiks cube.