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Does a promoted piece have to go on the square the pawn has moved on or can I promote by turning my rook upside down on its existing square

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The FIDE Laws of Chess are explicit:

3.7.5.1 When a player, having the move, plays a pawn to the rank furthest from its starting position, he must exchange that pawn as part of the same move for a new queen, rook, bishop or knight of the same colour on the intended square of arrival. This is called the square of ‘promotion’.

So, the answer to

Does a promoted piece have to go on the square the pawn has moved on

is "Yes".

can I promote by turning my rook upside down on its existing square

No.

And if you turn your rook upside down then, as far as the rules of chess are concerned, it remains a rook.

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  • In the title of the question, but not in the question itself, there is the supposition that the pawn can be taken immediately on promotion. Common sense suggests that if the capture is not merely possible, but obviously compulsory, it would be sufficient to move the pawn to the eighth rank and announce "Queen". Involving the arbiter and finding a spare Queen appears simply to waste everybodys time. In a high-level event, the arbiter would have been standing around with that spare Queen for a while so no problem. Is there a level at which common sense is sufficient?
    – Philip Roe
    Commented Dec 26, 2021 at 23:05
  • @PhilipRoe Short answer; "No".
    – Brian Towers
    Commented Dec 26, 2021 at 23:11

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