Playboard
  • Lesson 11 of 32
  • Special moves
  • 2 min

En Passant in Chess, Explained on the Board

En passant, French for "in passing", is the rule that catches out more casual players than any other. It is a pawn capture that only happens in one exact situation.

Step 1 of 3

  1. Watch it happen

    Black's pawn is on d7 and White's on e5. Black moves the pawn two squares, to d5, landing right beside White's pawn. White may now capture it as if it had moved only one square: the white pawn goes to d6, and the black pawn on d5 is removed.

  2. Your turn

    Black has just played d7 to d5, so the black pawn has slipped past your pawn on e5. Capture it en passant.

    Your move

    Capture the black pawn en passant.

  3. Now or never

    En passant has a strict time limit. If you don't capture right away, on the very next move, can you do it later?

    Question

What you learned

  • When a pawn moves two squares and lands beside an enemy pawn, that enemy pawn may capture it as if it had moved one square.
  • The capturing pawn moves diagonally to the square that was skipped over.
  • En passant is only allowed on the move straight after the two-square step.

In this course

Unit 1The pieces

  1. The Chessboard and How to Set Up the Pieces
  2. How the Rook Moves in Chess
  3. How the Bishop Moves in Chess
  4. How the Queen Moves in Chess
  5. How the King Moves in Chess
  6. How the Knight Moves in Chess
  7. How Pawns Move and Capture in Chess
  8. Chess Piece Values: What Each Piece Is Worth

Unit 2Special moves

  1. What Is Check in Chess, and How to Get Out of It
  2. How to Castle in Chess: Kingside and Queenside
  3. En Passant in Chess, Explained on the Board
  4. Pawn Promotion in Chess: Turning a Pawn Into a Queen

Unit 3Winning the game

  1. What Is Checkmate? Learn to Mate in One
  2. Stalemate in Chess: Why It's a Draw
  3. How to Checkmate With a King and Queen

Unit 4Your first tactics

  1. The Fork: Attack Two Pieces at Once
  2. The Pin in Chess: Freeze a Piece in Place
  3. The Skewer in Chess: Attack Through a Piece

Unit 5Checkmate patterns

  1. Back-Rank Mate in Chess: Spot It and Stop It
  2. Smothered Mate in Chess: The Knight's Checkmate
  3. The Ladder Mate: Checkmate With Two Rooks
  4. How to Checkmate With a King and Rook

Unit 6More tactics

  1. Discovered Attack in Chess: Unmask a Hidden Attacker
  2. Double Check in Chess: Two Checks at Once
  3. Removing the Defender in Chess: Take the Guard

Unit 7Opening principles

  1. Control the Centre: A Chess Opening Principle
  2. How to Develop Your Pieces in the Chess Opening
  3. Scholar's Mate: How It Works and How to Stop It
  4. Fool's Mate: The Fastest Checkmate in Chess

Unit 8Endgame basics

  1. The Rule of the Square in Chess Endgames
  2. The Opposition in Chess: King Endgame Basics
  3. King and Pawn vs King: How to Win the Ending

Lessons for every game

Take it to the table.

Put what you just read into practice. No sign-up needed.

Play ChessRead the Chess rulebook