Allumwandlung (German for "complete promotion", sometimes abbreviated AUW) is a

chess problem A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by the composer using chess pieces on a chess board, which presents the solver with a particular task. For instance, a position may be given with the instruction that White is to ...

theme where, at some stage in the solution, a

pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pawn, Oregon, an his ...

(or sometimes pawns) is promoted variously to a

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

rook Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess *Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military * Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * USS ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, and

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

. Allumwandlung's main requirement is promotion, either a white pawn or a black pawn. A

Babson task A Babson task (or simply Babson) is a chess problem with the following properties: #White has only one , or first move, that forces checkmate in the stipulated number of moves. #Black's defences include the promotion of a certain pawn to a queen, ...

may appear if both pawns are spotted in an individual problem, corresponding one another.

Example

The diagram shows a chess problem with Allumwandlung composed by Niels Høeg and first published in 1905. White to move and ''mate in three''. The key move (White's first move) is 1.f7, and depending on how Black defends, White promotes to either a queen, a rook, a bishop or a knight on move two. The lines are: * 1... e4 2. f8=Q any 3. Qe7/Qf6# * 1... Kd6 2. f8=Q Kc6 3. Qc5# * 1... exf4 2. f8=R Kd6 3. Rf6# * 1... exd4 2. f8=B Kf6 3. Ra6# * 1... Kf6 2. f8=N exd4 3. Rf7# The importance of White's

underpromotion In chess, promotion is the replacement of a pawn with a new piece when the pawn is moved to its last . The player replaces the pawn immediately with a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of the same . The new piece does not have to be a previously ca ...

s can be understood by considering what happens if White promotes to a queen no matter what Black plays: * After 1...exf4 or 1...exd4 2.f8=Q is

stalemate Stalemate is a situation in the game of chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check and has no legal move. Stalemate results in a draw. During the endgame, stalemate is a resource that can enable the player with the inferior ...

, as black no longer has a legal move to play. * Following 1...Kf6 2.f8=Q+ Kxg6, the checkmate will take more than three moves to achieve and therefore does not meet the stated conditions of the chess problem.

References

Bibliography * Chess problems {{chess-stub