Yes. If someone at your tournament places a queen (or rook, bishop, or knight) on the promotion square and removes the pawn from the seventh rank without ever pushing it to the eighth rank, then common sense should tell you that the pawn has been promoted to a queen (or rook, bishop, or knight.) Rule as such. Any ruling you make can always be appealed to US Chess, but if this one is appealed you will be upheld and it is likely that the appellant will not get his filing fee returned to him.
It is my understanding that the Rules Committee is looking into this.
An FA actually made this claim in the U.S. Open last week – that the pawn must be moved to the promotion square first. I simply ruled that the player had not made an illegal move, and walked away. The claimant lost a few moves later.
Even had I ruled against the promoting player, what would be the penalty? Add two minutes to the claimant’s clock and require the promoting player to do it properly? Absurd.
In their infinite wisdom, the Board of Delegates has just made this entire thread moot.
Did they just adopt the Chinese Chess rule, where the pawn can only move sideways when it reaches the last rank?
No - they (effectively) adopted the FIDE rule. The consequences are:
a) you may promote by placing the new piece and then removing the P
b) you may promote by removing the P and replacing it on the 8th rank with the new piece
c) you may promote by movint the P to the 8th, removing it, and replacing
In all cases, when the off-the-board piece TOUCHES the promotion square, then promotion TO THAT PIECE is the only possible move (if legal).
There is one “angels dancing on the head of a pin” question which is not definitively answered by the new rule, but I won’t mention it because it will never come up. It’s for Rules scholars only.
I will mention this one: suppose W has P’s on c7 and e7. There is a Black N on d8. You pick up a White queen from off the board and “capture” the Black N. Have you determined that promotion to a Q is forced (I think the answer is “yes” - but the rule doesn’t explicitly say so). Now…which P captures the N? That appears to be still open. You have to play either cxd8=Q or exd8=Q.
Note: I think this is required, even if the Q does not “touch the promotion square”. But, that might be debatable.
Are we having fun, yet?
Aw, come on. Inquiring minds want to know.
I vote yes. If you pick up the queen and touch the knight – even if the queen does not touch d8 – it is similar to touching one of your pieces and one of your opponent’s. In that case, the rule is that you must capture the opponent’s touched piece with your touched piece if legal. So the parallel situation with promotion demands a yes.
It would appear that you still have the choice of either of those two moves – but no other. For example, c7-c8=Q would no longer be legal, nor would e7-e8=Q. Nor would you be allowed to promote to a different piece, on any of c8, d8, or e8.
Absolutely. But let’s have a little more. What if you grab both the queen and the knight, but both cxd8=Q and exd8=Q are illegal for some reason. Would you then be required to capture the knight (with some other piece) if legal?
I vote yes.
Bill Smythe
Please help me understand. If White were to pick up a piece off the board, it is not “touched” until it touches the promotion square. Why is this different if White should also touch Black’s piece on the promotion square?
Alex Relyea
Aha, we have a dissenting vote. And one with perhaps a valid point.
I was thinking of the situation where the player grabs the queen from off the board, then grabs the knight with the same hand, so that his hand is simultaneously holding both pieces, which in all likelihood are touching each other.
In such a situation the player’s intention seems quite clear.
Bill Smythe
Point of Clarification! — In Chinese Chess, the pawn can move sideways once it has crossed the river (middle of the board). It need not to be in the last rank but its movement is restricted by sideways if on the last rank.
Continue on. 
~Acerook
So White replaces the Knight on d8 with a Queen from off the board, then removes his Queen from d7 and presses his clock! Now what? :mrgreen:
IMHO I do not believe the promotion piece has to be a Q if it doesn’t touch the promotion square, the rules clearly state there is no penalty for touching pieces off the board and the Q is such a piece until it touches the promotion square. The N must be captured since it was touched and once the Q touches the promotion square then I agree either cxd8=Q or exd8=Q has to be played.
Grabbing the N is key to this problem. Once the N is grabbed then it must be captured if legal. There are two legal ways to do that, either Kxd8 or Rxd8 and so one of those moves is now forced.
I read Ken Sloan’s hypothetical to mean that you bumped the N with your not-yet-in-play Q. Is intentionally hitting the piece that occupies the square the equivalent of touching the square?
Can we get them to accept the FIDE Blitz rules, too? Please?
G/3+2 is far superior to G5d0, and stop the King capture nonsense. Any illegal move should be claimed like any other illegal move.
Ooh you devil you. I’ve never heard that queening a queen is legal, but the post-move position is legal from the pre-move position, so who knows?
Literally, though, once an off-the-board queen touches a square on the eighth, promotion to a queen is required on that square, so I’d have to say the suggested maneuver is illegal.
Here is a position where the answer to this question would be crucial:
Bill Smythe
In my eyes no, it is considered touching the knight but I still do not believe he has to promote to the queen at that stage until it physically touches the promotion square itself. Somewhat silly example but it would be like someone using an off-board queen, or say a pencil, to move a piece, if you do I would consider the queen, or pencil, an extension of the hand and force you to move the piece you touched (unless you were just clearly adjusting it on its square… ugh, rules lawyers).
I would agree with that. Given that you could simply remove the N from the board completely, then hover over the square with the out-of-play Q before deciding to underpromote, I would think that whacking the N with the out-of-play Q would get the same treatment.
Correct - in analogy to an ordinary capture, where touching the captured piece with the capturing piece is definitive.
OK - let’s raise the ante:
W: Ka8, Pc7, Pg7
B: Ka6, Re8
White picks up an off-board Q and places it on g8.
(variation a - he releases the Q; variation b - the Q touches the square, but is not released).
Question: is the player required to promote the P on c7 to a Q?
Give all possible (reasonable) answers and give arguments that support each one.
Extra credit: suppose White’s flag falls 1 second after touching the Q to g8. Is White now mated?
Defend both “yes” and “no”.
Easier version: White touches the Q to c8. Is White NOW mated?
Even easier: White touches the P on c7. Is White NOW mated?
I’ll go away, now.