rule was still in force in northern Europe, Russia, Scandinavia, and Germany. 1862 British Chess Association rule Under Law XIII of the 1862 "Code of Laws of the British Chess Association", a pawn reaching its last rank had the option to remain as a pawn instead of being promoted. In his 1889 work The Modern Chess Instructor, Wilhelm Steinitz, the first World Chess Champion, endorsed this rule, explaining its purpose by referring to the position diagrammed, which he cited from Johann Löwenthal's Book of the London Chess Congress, of 1862. If White plays 1.bxa8=Q?? or any other promotion, Black wins with 1...gxh3, whereupon checkmate via 2...h2 is unstoppable. Instead, White draws by 1.bxa8=P!, when 1...gxh3 or 1...Kxh3 stalemates White, and other moves allow 2.Bxg2, with a drawn endgame. Steinitz wrote, "We approve of the decision of the London Chess Congress, of 1862, although the 'dummy' pawn rule was denounced by some authorities." The same rule and explanation are given by George H. D. Gossip in The Chess-Player's Manual. The broad language of Law XIII appears to allow promotion to any piece of either color. This led to the whimsical joke chess problem illustrated. White is to play and checkmate in one move. No solution is possible under modern-day rules, but with Law XIII in effect, the surprising solution is 1.g8=black N#!, when the newly promoted knight blocks its own king's flight square. Other amusing problems have been created involving promotion to a white or black king, which Law XIII also appears to allow. Howard Staunton vigorously opposed the 1862 rule when it was proposed, but the tournament committee passed it by a large majority of votes. It did not catch on, however. Philip Sergeant wrote: A correspondent in the May [1865] Chess World ... did not exaggerate when he wrote that the B.C.A. Code had been very generally rejected by British amateurs, and emphatically condemned by the leading authorities of America, Germany, and France. In particular, the absurd "dead Pawn" rule, against which Staunton had made his protest in 1862, had failed to win acceptance. The British Chess Association code was superseded by the "Revised International Chess Code" of the London 1883 international chess tournament, under which promotion is mandatory. Strategy The ability to promote is often the critical factor in endgames and thus is an important consideration in opening and middlegame strategy. A far-advanced pawn can threaten to be