Can A Pawn Kill A Queen?

Chess Guides / By Andrew Hercules
can a pawn kill a queen

Pawns are the least powerful piece on the board, they are only valued 1 point because of their restricted movement. The queen however is the most powerful piece and can control a total of 28 squares carrying it’s value to a whopping 9 points.

Due to their contrasting differences, it makes us wonder can the pawn which is the smallest guy on the board kill a majestic piece like the queen? Let’s find out

Can A Pawn Kill A Queen

Believe it or not, a pawn can kill a queen by capturing it on the square that it lands. In chess, pawns capture a piece by moving one square diagonally forward to the left or right. The pawns can capture not only the queen but every other piece except for the king. Capturing the king is illegal in chess. 

Related Post: Can a pawn kill a king

White to move

It’s White turn to move and he should use his pawn to capture the black queen on h5 since we know that pawns capture a piece by moving one square diagonally forward to the left or right. Below is what it looks like after the piece has been captured:

Comparing The Pawn And The Queen

Pawn Queen
Can only move one square forward Move in any direction in any number of squares in a straight line
Can capture any piece except for the king Can capture any piece except for the king
Has 2 special move called en passant and promotion Has no special move
Least powerful piece Most powerful piece
Losing a pawn is not critical Losing a queen is critical

 

Andrew Hercules

Hercules Chess, launched in 2020, is a website that teaches you about chess. We started as a chess blog and became a chess training platform in early 2022.

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