En passant
En passant is a special capture reserved for pawns. When an enemy pawn advances two squares in one move and lands right next to one of your pawns, you can capture it as if it had only moved one square, but only on the very next move. Once that window closes, the right is gone for good.
It is the rule beginners discover last, and the only one in chess where a piece is captured on a square it never occupied.
How it works
Three conditions must all be true:
- The enemy pawn must advance two squares in a single move (from its starting square).
- It must land right next to one of your pawns, on the same rank.
- You must capture en passant immediately, on the very next move; otherwise the right is lost for the rest of the game.
The white pawn on e5 captures the black pawn that just jumped from d7 to d5, and lands on d6, exactly as if it had captured a pawn sitting there normally. The black pawn disappears from the board, even though it never actually occupied d6.
Only from one rank
The three conditions have a consequence worth stating on its own: en passant can only ever happen from a single rank for each colour.
| Capturing pawn stands on | Lands on | |
|---|---|---|
| White | rank 5 | rank 6 |
| Black | rank 4 | rank 3 |
If your pawn isn’t on that rank, no enemy double step can ever offer you the capture. That single fact removes most of the confusion around the rule.
Here is the mirror image, with Black doing the capturing:
How it’s written
The notation is a normal capture, named after the square the capturing pawn lands on, not the square the captured pawn stood on: exd6 above, exd3 in the mirror. Some books and scoresheets add “e.p.” after the move (exd6 e.p.), which is optional and increasingly rare.
The fastest an en passant capture can legally occur is each side’s third move: a pawn needs two moves to reach the rank where the capture becomes possible.
Why this rule exists
En passant was introduced once the pawn’s initial two-square move became standard, back in the 15th century. Without it, a pawn could “jump” straight past an enemy pawn’s zone of control without ever risking capture. That would be a loophole the rules were never meant to grant. En passant restores the balance: a pawn that advances two squares stays just as exposed as if it had only moved one.
The rule is written into the FIDE Laws of Chess under article 3.7, alongside the pawn’s other special behaviours, and it applies unchanged in Chess960 and in every standard variant.
A classic beginner trap: forgetting this right and letting the enemy pawn slip by, or conversely thinking en passant is still available several moves after the double step. Both mistakes get punished in real games.
How to use it in your games
After every enemy double pawn step next to one of yours, check systematically whether en passant is available to you. It’s a habit worth building early: plenty of players discover the rule late and miss it for years. Conversely, if you’re about to push a pawn two squares past an enemy pawn, remember you’re exposing it to this exact capture on the next move; sometimes a single-square advance is the safer choice.
Three situations where the capture is worth more than the pawn it wins:
- Breaking a pawn chain. Capturing en passant removes a defender and often leaves your opponent with an isolated or doubled pawn.
- Opening a file toward the king. The capture shifts your pawn sideways, which can pry open the file your rook is already sitting on.
- Stopping a passed pawn. A pawn that tries to run past yours with a double step can simply be taken; the double step buys nothing.
There is one case where en passant stops being optional: if it happens to be your only legal move, you must play it, the same way any forced move is played. Positions like that are rare enough to be curiosities, but they do occur in composed studies. En passant captures can also deliver checkmate outright, most famously in Gundersen–Faul (Melbourne, 1928).
If the rule feels obscure, it is worth knowing that it went viral in 2022 as an internet meme, which is how a large share of players now hear about it for the first time. The meme is a joke; the rule is 500 years old and entirely real.
Frequently asked questions
Is en passant mandatory?
No. It’s a right, not an obligation. You’re free to skip the en passant capture and play something else instead, but then that right disappears permanently for that particular pawn. The one exception is a position where the capture is your only legal move, in which case you must play it.
Can you capture en passant several moves after the double step?
No, never. The right only exists on the very first move following the enemy’s double step. If you play anything else in between, even a move that has nothing to do with that pawn, the window closes for good.
Can any piece make an en passant capture?
No, only a pawn can. Only a pawn can capture en passant, and it can only capture another pawn this way. No other piece is involved in this rule.
On which squares can en passant happen?
White can only capture en passant with a pawn standing on the 5th rank, landing on the 6th. Black can only do it with a pawn on the 4th rank, landing on the 3rd. Anywhere else on the board, the capture is impossible.
Is en passant real?
Yes. It has been part of the official rules since the 15th century and appears in FIDE’s Laws of Chess. The doubt comes from the fact that many players go years without ever needing it, and from the meme that made the rule famous online in 2022.
Can en passant put a king in check or checkmate?
Yes, on both counts. The capturing pawn lands on a new square and attacks from it like any other pawn, and the captured pawn’s disappearance can open a line for a piece behind it. Games decided by an en passant checkmate exist in the record books.