If black did play it regardless, then after white takes, black's left with a weakened a6 pawn. White on the other hand, prevents it by simply playing a5, with the underlying tactical idea being to capture with en passant in case black tries to expand with b5. That said, its potential as a move is still rather frequently employed, for instance to stop your opponent's desired queenside pawn expansion, following is a typical example: īlack plays a6 to prepare b5 and their desired setup is to have the a6-b5 pawns which provides important light-square control and creates space on Black's queenside. Now chesswise, I think it's quite clear why it's a relatively rare type of move given that it can only be played when there are still pawns at starting position and when moved two squares, constraints make events rare. So you not knowing about it doesn't make for a case that it's poorly taught.

You playing for years without knowing about it has nothing to do with that, either you learn the rules or you don't, you won't self-discover them no matter how many years you play, specially not when your playing pool is limited solely to your friends who may not know certain rules either. I hope this has cleared up any confusion you had about using the en passant move with any piece other than a pawn.It is taught together with the rest of the rules of the game. They do the capturing and they’re the ones getting captured. Pawns are the only pieces involved in an en passant capture. There’s no situation where a queen, king, bishop, knight or rook captures by landing on an unoccupied square. You also can’t make an en passant capture with any piece other than a pawn. If any other enemy piece moves into the same position required to en passant capture a pawn, it can’t be taken this way and the enemy king can’t be checked this way. The en passant capture can only be done on pawns. Can You En Passant a Queen, Bishop, Knight or Rook? If the home pawn moves 1 square ahead, then another square ahead on the next move, this capture isn’t allowed. If black moves another piece first, the en passant capture isn’t allowed. To capture like this, it must be done immediately after the other pawn moves 2 squares off its home square, as the white pawn did above. Notice that the capture works as if the white pawn moved only 1 square instead of 2. Second board: The black pawn attacks diagonally forward (like always), but it attacks the square behind the white pawn, capturing it.

The white pawn moves 2 squares on its first move, landing next to the black pawn. Your opponent’s pawn must have moved 2 squares, landing next to your pawn on their last move.įirst board: The black pawn is 3 rows away from white’s back row.Your pawn must be 3 rows away from your opponent’s back row.This is a special move that allows a pawn to capture a pawn that is directly to the side. If you already know how the en passant capture works, you can skip the next section and go right to the main question: Can You En Passant a Queen? What Is En Passant? A lot of casual players don’t know or use this move, but it is still a part of chess. When I learned chess, I wasn’t taught the en passant move, and I don’t think any of the people around me knew it. The pawn’s movement is very simple, but they are capable of a special move that often causes some confusion-en passant.

Chess pawn en passant