4 ms·
I'm an 1850 player and when I am playing under extreme time pressure (e.g. < 2 seconds remaining), I occasionally underpromote to a rook because I can execute a
by gamegoblin 5y ago
I'm an 1850 player and when I am playing under extreme time pressure (e.g. < 2 seconds remaining), I occasionally underpromote to a rook because I can execute a rook+king endgame mechanically faster than a queen+king without an accidental misclick causing a stalemate.
- kadoban 5y agoThat's interesting. Is it just easier because you can't accidentally move to diagonals, or it's easier in your mind because you've seen it more? If you can even tell the difference.
- ryanjshaw 5y agoNot OP but with rook and king you make a box and shrink it while keeping your king next to your rook, and stalemate is all but impossible. With queen and rook you have to get the queen to a knight's distance from your opponents king and mirror their moves until the edge of the board, and at the end you need a slightly bigger L (4 squares) to avoid stalemate while your bring your king around. In the former the two pieces work together, in the latter they work somewhat independently (with a quirk at the end) until the final sequence of moves and therefore there is a slightly larger risk of error. In practice you should drill this regularly to mitigate the risk.
- eertami 5y ago>or it's easier in your mind because you've seen it more I think the point OP is making is that if you need to use your mind at all with <2 seconds left you're going to lose. Pre moving safe legal moves without hitting a stalemate is definitely easier without a queen.