If a pawn reaches the eighth rank and chooses not to promote, can it go back the other way?
Imagine a White pawn going bxc8=P, then the unpromoted pawn moves to c7 and then that pawn gets stuck due a c6 White pawn. Both pawns cannot move. Even then, after several moves ahead, you may have already forgotten that the c6 pawn moves towards c1 by then.
This is dumb.
The forced promotion to a major or minor "piece" was NOT the case until 1862 when this rule was adopted.
I want to revisit the "a pawn is a pawn is a pawn" rule & say that Law XIII shall be partially reinstated w/ a player NOT being able to choose an opponent's color.
.....and it's NOT dumb.
Regardless of situations that can argued in favor of non-promotion, the rule stands that you HAVE to promote, so it would be wise to formulate your endgame strategy with that in mind. Advocating a rule that allows non-promotion, would be the same as allowing a rule that allow promotion to an additional King. One facet of this rule, which makes perfect sense, is it forces the beginner not to forget to take advantage of it on OTB games. The chances of getting stuck in a position that would require a non-promotion is probably one in a googoplex!
It might help by letting you promote at a later time?
The option to NOT promote has been around ALOT longer than the forced promotion !!
And remember, the rule was changed AGAINST the wishes of many of the world's best chessplayers back in 1862, one being Howard Staunton (who they say thought it was, at first, some kind of a joke !). I surmise it was done as a power play by NW'ern European muck-mucks (who probably knew very little about top flight play itself) to control the chess rulebook over other heads of state.
I strongly suggest you study the REASON why we have that rule today. How it morphed, who came up w/ the CHANGING OF the set promotion rule, & how it affects play today.
....IOW's, some a u hava lotta work to do. & BTW, be like me & prepare ur research B4 u post inane & insane comments 'cuz u like being a stick in the mud !
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promotion_(chess)#1862_British_Chess_Association_rule
look in the history
If a pawn reaches the eighth rank and chooses not to promote, can it go back the other way?
No, it would just be stuck there I guess until it's captured
Two posters have provided positions where the only way to salvage a draw would be to "promote" to a pawn, forcing stalemate - bb_gum234 (#32) and MayCaesar (#75) - good jobs! This is a pretty interesting construction exercise, and here's my attempt to do it in the most economical way.
So 1.e8(P)! and Black cannot release the stalemate. Any other promotion would lose, e.g. 1.e8(Q)? g3 2.Qg6 g2+ 3.Qxg2+ fxg2 mate.
The problem is though, it wouldn't be stalemate, because since u have the option to promote to a piece, if that's your only move, u'd have to do it.
I suppose it could help in a very specific type of stalemate situations. So If promoting to a queen would lead to stalemate and so you promote to a pawn. However you could promote to other pieces to avoid this stalemate. So I doubt there could a scenario where if it was legal, promoting to a pawn ( which is basically leaving the pawn on the 8th rank and not promoting) would be the only way to help the player who chose to do so.
Eight pages of discussion devoted to a nonsensical question! "Promoting to a pawn" is not a promotion.
He's saying not a promotion, but just a move, WITHOUT a promotion. Interesting discussion. In other words, could u just leave your pawn stuck on the 8th rank, without changing it into another piece. Take it even further, could u then promote it to a piece several moves AFTER u move it to the 8th rank.
Two posters have provided positions where the only way to salvage a draw would be to "promote" to a pawn, forcing stalemate - bb_gum234 (#32) and MayCaesar (#75) - good jobs! This is a pretty interesting construction exercise, and here's my attempt to do it in the most economical way.
So 1.e8(P)! and Black cannot release the stalemate. Any other promotion would lose, e.g. 1.e8(Q)? g3 2.Qg6 g2+ 3.Qxg2+ fxg2 mate.
The problem is though, it wouldn't be stalemate, because since u have the option to promote to a piece, if that's your only move, u'd have to do it.
Of course it's not stalemate under existing rules. The OP asked a hypothetical question and I gave a hypothetical answer. Not sure why some people (not necessarily you) find that hard to understand.
I'm gonna be asking FIDE to revisit this. I already have the paperwork needed to file for 2018 for them to review. I feel they need to roll this one back because it's arbitrary & a case CANNOT be made as to why they changed it in the first place !
Remember, to biggest anti-advocates were some a the game's greatest players at the time (sooo sadly, women were NOT ALLOWED to play in 1862 !).
Moment for Clarity: Back then (as I feel now), if u didn't promote ?....the pawn stayed a pawn once announced - for good. You couldn't say later u wanted it a Q or something like that. It no longer could move, nor capture, etc. Yet, it could still play a significant role & affect the outcome (as small of a % as that would be).
Remember, B or Kn or R promotions account for less than 5% of all promos. Choosing to leave the pawn a pawn & not promote would probably be 0.01%, but it would add romance & novelty to our cherished game. Something we've drifted from since computers turned us into what we are today....sterile.
Eight pages of discussion devoted to a nonsensical question! "Promoting to a pawn" is not a promotion.
He's saying not a promotion, but just a move, WITHOUT a promotion. Interesting discussion. In other words, could u just leave your pawn stuck on the 8th rank, without changing it into another piece. Take it even further, could u then promote it to a piece several moves AFTER u move it to the 8th rank.
Look at the thread's title and the OP's first post. But whether he calls it a promotion or a pawn move without a promotion is neither here nor there. It's not a promotion. The rules of chess require a promotion. The player doesn't have the option of moving a pawn to the 8th rank without promoting it.
Go back to #163 & reread what I just wrote.
Go & have a beverage, then reread it again. This time using the concentration doG gave u.
You can't promote into something you already are.
Promotion should be player's choice !
That's the whole thing....YOU DON'T HAVE TO !!
Don't you see that it's the only move where ur FORCED to decide (by rulebook nonetheless !) on something....AFTER you've made your play ?
You don't ever hafta punch your clock. You don't ever hafta resign before being #'ed. You don't ever hafta accept en passant. You don't ever hafta castle or do anything on a chessboard if u don't wanna. You're free to play however u want - except promotion !
See how dumb this rule is ?
promoting to pawn , pawn should be moved to the startting position !!