Understand the En Passant in Chess: Origin and How It’s Played

En passant is a special pawn capturing move in chess that prevents a pawn in the fifth rank from being bypassed by an opponent's pawn that moves two squares forward from its starting position. The en passant rule was introduced in the fifteenth century to enhance the pace of the game.

If an enemy pawn makes the first two-step move in chess, you can capture it en passant as if it moved one step. En passant capture is a French term that means “in passing.”

In short, you can use en passant to capture on the opponent’s pawn forward move regardless of whether it jumps one square or two. However, the enemy pawn must be captured en passant on the very next move or you forfeit your chance to play en passant.

The en passant capture rule was created to prevent situations where the board becomes locked down with opposing pawns blocking each other. This is particularly relevant when a black pawn or a white pawn advances two squares, passing an opposing pawn on an adjacent file.

Without the capture en passant rule, players could exploit the two-square advance to avoid capture, leading to slower and potentially less engaging chess games.

See the game shown above on a gorgeous wooden chessboard. The White Pawn a2 could use the two-square move in chess to bypass Black Pawn b4. This wouldn’t be fair, so b4 could capture en passant the White Pawn as it passes, just as if it only moved one square to a3.

Without the en passant rule, the enemy pawn would take advantage of the two-square first move in chess to avoid capture. As it is, b4 could take the captured pawn off the board and move to a3, just as it would in a normal pawn capture.

If the en passant rule didn’t exist, a chess player could end up with positions like this! In this case, Black’s Pawn pieces on d5, f5, and g5 have clearly bypassed the White Pawns guarding them by jumping two spaces ahead instead of one.

Using the special rule, White could have taken these opposing Pawn pieces off the board in an en passant move.

Now see the result of the previous game in the image above. Situations like this would create very boring games! I remember when I first started playing chess, this happened a few times until I learned this very unique en passant rule.

The en passant move helps the chess player create a faster, more vibrant game.

The capturing pawn may only execute the en passant capture once per game, and only immediately after an opponent moves a pawn two squares forward from its starting position.

The capturing pawn must be on its fifth rank, and it takes the opponent’s pawn as if it had moved only one square forward. The capturing pawn moves diagonally into the square that the passed pawn skipped.

When your pawn is on the fifth rank and the opponent moves a pawn forward two squares from its starting position to a square adjacent to your pawn, you can capture this pawn en passant.

This means your pawn moves diagonally to the square behind the opponent's pawn, capturing en passant as if it had moved only one square forward.

Understanding and utilizing en passant is crucial for chess strategy, especially in games where pawn structure and timing are key.

The en passant capture, initiated from a pawn's fifth rank, can significantly alter game dynamics by allowing passed pawns to be captured diagonally, providing tactical board control.

Imagine you’re playing white, and your pawn is on the fifth rank. Black moves a pawn from the seventh to the fifth rank, landing right next to your pawn. You can capture en passant the black pawn in your very next move.

Or, for another example, assume you’re playing black, and your pawn is on the fourth rank. If white moves a pawn two squares from the second to the fourth rank and ends adjacent to your pawn, you can capture this pawn en passant.

These examples highlight the tactical use of the en passant rule, showing its potential to impact the overall strategy of the game. Remember, this en passant capture must be made at the very next move, or the opportunity is lost.

Elliott Neff from Chess4Life shows the en passant move in action in the brilliant video shown below. He explains the en passant rule and shows scenarios where en passant capture works best as you play chess.

Elliott also explains the history of en passant capture and the reasoning behind this move in this training video.