What is en passant in chess?

When a pawn moves two squares forward and lands beside an enemy pawn, that enemy pawn may capture it as if it had only moved one square. The capture must be made immediately, on the very next move.

Is en passant a real rule?

Yes. It is a standard rule of chess, in place since the fifteenth century, and it applies in every serious game.

En passant

French for "in passing". It is the rule that makes people call over an adult to check, because the captured pawn is not on the square you land on.

Black has just played the pawn from d7 all the way to d5, slipping past the white pawn on e5.

The rule

A pawn's two-square first move cannot be used to sneak past an enemy pawn. If it lands directly beside one, that enemy pawn may capture it as though it had only moved one square — so here White plays the e5 pawn to d6, and the black pawn on d5 comes off the board.

After the capture: the white pawn stands on d6 and the black pawn has gone, even though it was never on d6.

You get exactly one move

The right to capture en passant lasts for one move and then disappears for good. Play anything else and the chance is gone.

The three conditions

The capturing piece must be a pawn.
The enemy pawn must have just moved two squares in one go.
It must have landed directly beside your pawn, on the same rank.

Do children need this?

Not for a long time. It comes up rarely, and a child who has just learned that pawns capture diagonally does not need a special case yet. Teach it when it actually happens in one of their games — that is the moment it makes sense.

Let them practise it on a real board

Rules are taught by playing them, not by being told them
Blocked paths, captures and promotion each get their own lesson
Works offline, so it is there in the car and the waiting room

Download for iPhone Get it on Google Play