Chess En Passant

What is En Passant in chess

En passant is French for "in passing," and that's exactly how the capture works. When an opponent's pawn uses its two-square first move to land beside your pawn, you can capture it as though it had advanced only one square. Your pawn moves diagonally to the square the enemy pawn skipped over, and that pawn is removed from the board.

The chess pawn en passant rule exists because of another rule change. Originally, pawns could only move one square at a time. To speed up the game, the two-square first move was introduced in the 15th century. But this created a problem: pawns could now sneak past enemy pawns that would have captured them under the old rules. En passant in chess was the solution — it preserves the original capturing opportunities while keeping the faster pawn movement.

Without en passant, creating passed pawns would be far too easy. You could simply jump your pawn past an enemy pawn guarding its advance. The legendary teacher Aron Nimzowitsch called a passed pawn "a criminal which should be kept under lock and key." En passant helps keep that criminal locked up.

Chess En Passant rules

The en passant capture has strict conditions. All three must be met:

Your pawn must be on the fifth rank. For White, that's the row from a5 to h5. For Black, it's the row from a4 to h4. If your pawn hasn't advanced exactly three ranks from its starting position, en passant is not possible.

The enemy pawn must have just moved two squares. The captured pawn must have made its two-square first move, landing directly beside your pawn on an adjacent file. If the enemy pawn reached that square in two separate one-square moves, en passant is not allowed.

You must capture immediately. En passant can only happen on the very next move after the enemy pawn advances. If you play any other move first, you lose the right to capture en passant forever — for that particular pawn. There's no saving it for later.

To execute the capture, move your pawn diagonally to the square the enemy pawn passed over (not the square it landed on), and remove the enemy pawn from the board. In notation, the move is written like any pawn capture: if your pawn is on e5 and Black's pawn moves from d7 to d5, your capture is written as exd6.

One important note: en passant is mandatory if it's your only legal move. In the 19th century, some argued it was a "privilege" that could be refused. Howard Staunton clarified in 1860 that this is not the case — you cannot claim stalemate if en passant is available.

About En Passant History

En passant appeared in Europe between the 14th and 16th centuries, alongside other major rule changes like castling and the two-square pawn advance. The Spanish chess master Ruy López de Segura referenced en passant captures in his 16th-century writings, confirming the rule was established by then.

The rule wasn't universal for centuries. In Italy, there was no en passant — a variation called "passar battaglia" (passing battle) allowed pawns to skip past each other freely. This affected opening theory significantly; lines that were dangerous elsewhere in Europe were perfectly playable in Italy. In 1880, Italy finally adopted the standard international rules, including en passant, in preparation for the 1881 Milan tournament.

Some regions gave the rule colorful names. In French, it's "prise en passant" (capture in passing). The concept remained controversial even after widespread adoption. Some 19th-century players questioned why it applied only to pawns — after all, pieces pass each other constantly without consequence.

The record for most en passant captures in a single game is three. This occurred in a 1980 game between Alexandru Segal and Karl-Heinz Podzielny, and has been matched twice since. Not all three captures were by the same player in any of these games.

En Passant Examples in Chess Games

En passant appears regularly in master games, often with significant strategic impact.

One famous example occurred when Magnus Carlsen captured en passant against Loek van Wely, using the move to improve his pawn structure and gain a positional advantage.

Perhaps the most spectacular en passant in history was played by Gunnar Gundersen in 1912, where the en passant capture delivered checkmate — an exceptionally rare occurrence. The position required the capture to be the only way to deliver mate, making it a memorable moment in chess history.

In Petrov's Defence, en passant is actually part of standard opening theory. After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.0-0 0-0 8.c4 c6 9.cxd5 cxd5, if Black later plays ...f5, White often captures en passant to open lines against the Black king.

Online chess platforms report that many complaints about "bugs" or "cheating" are actually players unfamiliar with en passant. If you've ever been shocked to see your pawn disappear from an unexpected square, now you know why.

En Passant Closing thoughts

En passant is one of chess's quirkiest rules, but it exists for good reason — to preserve fair pawn battles despite the two-square first move. Learn to recognize when it's available, understand that you must capture immediately or lose the chance, and look for opportunities where capturing en passant improves your position. Once you know the rule, you'll never be caught off guard again.