The Everything Chess Basics Book (14 page)

The Situation

You are playing the White pieces and have a pawn on g2. You have the option of moving that pawn to g3 or g4. Your opponent has a pawn on f4.

But your opponent captures the pawn on g3, just as if you had moved it there!

If you move your pawn to g3, your opponent might decide to capture your pawn with her pawn. Therefore, you decide to exercise you two-square-forward option and move your pawn to g4.

This is perfectly legal, and it is a rule you simply have to know about. To repeat, the situation leading up to en passant is:

• A White pawn is on the second rank, unmoved (or a Black pawn is on the seventh rank, unmoved).

• A Black pawn is on an adjacent file on the fourth rank (or a White pawn is on an adjacent file on the fifth rank).

• White exercises the option to move the pawn two squares forward instead of one (or Black exercises the option to move the pawn two squares forward instead of one).

• The Black pawn that was on an adjacent file on the fourth rank captures the White pawn that has just moved two squares forward as if it had moved one square forward (or the White pawn that was on an adjacent file on the fifth rank captures the Black pawn that has just moved two squares forward as if it had moved one square forward).

It is White’s turn to move, and White decides to move the g-pawn up two squares.

Black can now capture the g4-pawn on g3. Notice that Black cannot capture the e4-pawn.

Without en passant, a pawn that has made its way into the opponent’s territory would lose some of its power, and opposing pawns could pass by with impunity.

Restrictions

It is important to remember that an en passant capture can only take place under the specialized conditions just explained. A piece can never capture anything en passant, while a pawn can never capture a piece en passant. In addition, a pawn can never capture another pawn en passant unless that pawn has just exercised its two-squares-forward optional move.

A further restriction on en passant is that the capture has to be executed as a direct response to the two-square-forward move of the opposing pawn. Wait one move and you lose the option of capturing en passant.

For an example, let’s go back to the position where White has that pawn on g2 while Black has the pawn on f4. Let’s also say that White has a king on g1 while Black has a king on g8. White moves his pawn forward under to two-square-forward option to g4. Black responds by moving her king to g7. White then moves his king to g2. Now it is Black’s turn, and there is no longer any option to capture the White pawn en passant.

Castling

Unlike en passant, this one comes up often. Practically every game one or the other of the players castles or has a chance to castle. Like en passant, castling is a very restricted move. Certain conditions have to be filled in order to be able to castle.

King and Rook

Before we get into the special conditions, the basic castling move consists of moving both a king and a rook on the same turn. It is the only time in chess when you can move two friendly pieces on the same turn. The king moves two squares along his home rank, while the rook jumps over the king and lands on the opposite side he started from. Both moves are impossible separately, since kings normally move only one square in any direction while rooks normally don’t jump over anything, needing a clear file or rank in order to move at all.

White’s king and h1-rook have not moved. There is nothing in between the two except empty squares.

Black’s king and h8-rook have not moved. There is nothing in between the two except empty squares.

White has moved the king two squares to the right along the first rank and jumped the rook over the king to its other side. Castling is completed.

Black has moved the king two squares to the right along the eighth rank and jumped the rook over the king to its other side. Castling is completed.

Castling serves two purposes. One is to tuck the vulnerable king away in a corner for safety during the early part of the game. Opposing pieces may be flying around the middle of the board, and staying there may not be healthy for the valuable king. The other is to allow the rook to get involved in the action through the middle of the board. This is usually much better than moving the rook up the h- or a-file along the edge of the board.

Conditions

In order for castling to be possible, the following conditions have to be present:

• The squares between king and rook must be empty.

• Both king and rook must be on their original square.

• Both king and rook must be unmoved.

• The king cannot castle into check.

• The king cannot castle out of check. Remember, the three ways out of check did not include castling.

• The king cannot castle through check.