En passant in chess: the pawn capture rule explained
En passant (French for “in passing”) is a special pawn capture. When a pawn moves two squares from its starting square and lands right beside an enemy pawn, that pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square.
It is the least known rule in chess: it can only happen on one rank, and only on the very next move.
How en passant works
The rule exists because of the pawn’s double step. Without it, a pawn could slip past an enemy pawn that guards the square it skips. En passant keeps that square guarded: the capturing pawn moves diagonally to the skipped square, and the pawn that moved two squares is removed.
Black can do it too
The rule works the same way for both sides. A white pawn captures en passant from the fifth rank, a black pawn from the fourth: those are the only ranks where it can happen.
The three conditions
An en passant capture is allowed only when all three are true:
- Your pawn stands on the fifth rank if you play White, or on the fourth if you play Black.
- The enemy pawn has just moved two squares from its starting square and stands right beside yours.
- You capture at once, on the very next move. Play anything else, and the right is gone for good.
Exercise: take in passing
Black has just played f7–f5. White to move: win a piece.
Make the move on the board: drag a piece, or click it and then a square.
Solved!
exf6+ takes en passant with check: the pawn on f6 attacks both the king on g7 and the knight on e7. The rook on f1 protects the pawn, so the king cannot take it and must step away, and fxe7 wins the knight.
Key points
- En passant is a pawn capturing a pawn that has just moved two squares past it.
- The capturing pawn lands on the square the other pawn skipped.
- It is allowed only on the very next move; later the chance is gone.