Does "the last rank" only mean ranks 1 and 9? Or does it mean anywhere where the Pawn is not able to move itself or its tile forward, for example due to the orthogonal adjacency requirement? Also, do moves in which a Pawn moves itself and its square sideways reset the counter for the 50-move rule? These moves are pawn moves, so it seems they would, but they are also reversible, which seems to go against the spirit of the rule.
Edit: It appears from the sample game that "the last rank" means whichever is the last rank for that particular file. Does this mean that a pawn could promote by moving sideways? Also, is promotion compulsory if possible?
Does "the last rank" only mean ranks 1 and 9? Or does it mean anywhere where the Pawn is not able to move itself or its tile forward, for example due to the orthogonal adjacency requirement? Also, do moves in which a Pawn moves itself and its square sideways reset the counter for the 50-move rule? These moves are pawn moves, so it seems they would, but they are also reversible, which seems to go against the spirit of the rule.
Edit: It appears from the sample game that "the last rank" means whichever is the last rank for that particular file. Does this mean that a pawn could promote by moving sideways? Also, is promotion compulsory if possible?