When a pawn reaches the other side of the board it can be exchanged for any other piece except a king. The choice is not limited to pieces that have been captured. This means that a person can get another queen for every pawn that reaches the other side and have several queens at the same time.
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When a pawn makes it to the other side of the board it is "promoted" to another piece, it can become anything it wants. This is called promoting a pawn. Since a pawn is most commonly promoted to a queen it is also called queening a pawn.
When a pawn reaches the 8th rank it is immediately promoted - changed into a different game piece. It can be promoted into a Rook, Knight, Bishop or Queen - as the most powerful piece, with the moving power of both Bishop and Rook, the Queen is usually chosen. But with certain game states, a Knight may be more useful.
It promotes. It will then become either a queen, rook, bishop, or a knight. The pawn is removed from the board of course!
When the pawn gets to the opposing side of the board the player can replace the pawn with a rook, knight, bishop, or queen.