What is Promotion?

Promotion in chess refers to a rule that allows a pawn that reaches its eighth rank to be exchanged for the player's choice of a queen, knight, rook, or bishop of the same color. The new piece replaces the pawn on its square on the same move. The choice of the new piece is not limited to pieces previously captured, thus it is theoretically possible for a player to have up to nine queens, ten knights, ten rooks, or ten bishops on the board.

See promote pawns.