How to Do En Passant in Chess: Rules & History

If you want to level up your chess game, learning the en passant rules for capturing pawns is important for mastering the game. While the maneuver doesn’t happen often, knowing how to use it can surprise another player who isn’t expecting it. Keep reading, and we’ll cover do an en passant with examples from real games. Plus, we spoke with chess grandmaster Sahaj Grover to learn the history of the maneuver and how to notate it!

Rules for En Passant in Chess

To perform an en passant, you must move your pawn 3 spaces forward. When your opponent advances their pawn 2 spaces the first time it moves and they land in the same row as your pawn, you can capture it. Move your pawn 1 row forward and into the column with your opponent and remove their piece from the board.

Section 1 of 7:

What is en passant in chess?

Download Article

En passant is a special move to capture a pawn next to one of yours. Normally, pawns can only capture pieces one space diagonally from them. However, when a pawn moves directly next to one of your pawns on their first move, en passant lets you capture it on your next turn.^{[1]
X
Research source}
- En passant means “in passing” in French because you capture the pawn while passing into the next space.
- En passant is the only chess move where your piece ends on a different space than the piece it captures.
Meet the wikiHow Expert

Sahaj Grover is a Chess Grandmaster and World Champion who earned his title when he was just 16.

Section 2 of 7:

How to Play En Passant in Chess

Download Article

1
Perform en passant after a pawn moves 2 spaces from its home row. To legally perform an en passant, your pawn has to 3 spaces forward from where it started on the board. If your opponent moves their pawn 2 spaces so it's on the same rank (row) as yours, your next move can be an en passant.^{[2]
X
Research source}
- Grover notes that you can only perform en passant on the turn right after your opponent moves their pawn. If you choose not to capture on your next move, you lose the opportunity.^{[3]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Sahaj Grover
  Chess Grandmaster
  
  Expert Interview}
2
Move diagonally into the same file to capture the pawn. When you do an en passant, advance your piece diagonally so it’s in the same file (column) behind your opponent’s pawn. Then, take your opponent’s pawn off the board.^{[4]
X
Research source}
- Example: If your opponent’s pawn is on a5 and you have a pawn on b5, move your pawn to a6 to perform an en passant.

Section 3 of 7:

The History of En Passant in Chess

Download Article

Grover explains, “In the olden days of classical chess, the pawn could not move two squares ahead from its original square.” When they added the rule to move 2 spaces on your opening, it became too easy for pawns to move past each other and get promoted to queens. Grover adds that chess players created en passant to keep the game fair and balanced.^{[5]
X
Expert Source

Sahaj Grover
Chess Grandmaster

Expert Interview}

Section 4 of 7:

How to Notate En Passant

Download Article

List your pawn’s original file, the letter X, and the destination square. When you annotate chess, Grover notes that captures are usually marked with the letter X.^{[6]
X
Expert Source

Sahaj Grover
Chess Grandmaster

Expert Interview} Start by listing the file where your pawn started, followed by an “x.” Then, write the rank and file for the square where you placed your pawn.
- Example: If you have a pawn on e4 and your opponent’s pawn is on f4, the notation for performing an en passant is exf3.

Section 5 of 7:

Is en passant legal in chess tournaments?

Download Article

Yes, en passant is completely legal in competitive chess. Nothing is stopping you from performing an en passant in a tournament match. Advanced players will usually avoid putting their pawns at risk, so it’s not a maneuver that you see very often in games.

Section 6 of 7:

Examples of En Passant in Games

Download Article

1
Magnus Carlsen used en passant to win against Loek van Wely. In 2006, Magnus Carlsen at the age of 15 played the Dutch grandmaster Loek van Wely, who was double his age. On the 12th and 24th turns of the game, Carlsen performed an en passant, which eventually led to him winning the game.^{[7]
X
Research source}
2
Gunnar Gunderson performed en passant to checkmate his opponent. In a tournament game from 1928 against A. H. Faul, Gunderson had a pawn on h5 in front of his opponent’s king on h6. When Faul moved his pawn to g5, Gunderson performed an en passant to capture it and put the king in checkmate.
- Gunderson also has a queen on g4, a knight on e6, and rook on h1 to trap the king.

Section 7 of 7:

Additional Chess Resources

Download Article

Check out our other chess articles to improve your game even more. Chess has a lot of different strategies and specific plays that put you in a winning position. If you want to take steps toward becoming a grandmaster, read up on these key plays to use them in your game: