What is en passant in chess?
I · Intermediate · The board and the pieces · 1 of 7En passant is a special pawn capture. When an opponent's pawn advances two squares from its starting square and lands beside your pawn, your pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square. The capture must be made on the very next move, or the right is gone.
How it works
- The set-up: your pawn stands on the same rank as, and on a file next to, an opponent's pawn that advanced two squares in one move from its original square on the move before.
- The capture: your pawn takes it "as though the latter had been moved only one square".
- Where your pawn lands: on the square the opponent's pawn passed over.
- One chance: "This capture is only legal on the move following this advance".
- Pawns only: no other piece can capture or be captured this way.
- Writing it down: the capture is recorded like any pawn capture, and "e.p." may be added.
The glossary has en passant, the pawn, the capture, the notation, the rank and file and the repetition and fifty-move rule.
Tricky cases
The opponent's pawn moved two squares last turn, and I played something else. Can I capture en passant now?
No. The capture is legal only on the move straight after the two-square advance.
The pawn beside mine got there by moving one square twice. Can I take it en passant?
No. It must have advanced two squares in a single move from its original square.
Can a knight or bishop capture en passant?
No. Only a pawn can, and only a pawn can be captured that way.
Does the en passant right matter for a draw by repetition?
Yes. Two positions are not the same if, in the first of them, a pawn could have been captured en passant.
Why the rule exists
When pawns were given a two-square first move, a pawn could run past an enemy pawn that had been waiting to capture it. En passant takes that escape away: the waiting pawn can still capture, as if the runner had stopped after one square.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Opponent's pawn advanced two squares beside your pawn | You may capture en passant on your next move | FIDE Laws 3.7.3.1; 3.7.3.2 |
| Any later move | The right has lapsed | FIDE Laws 3.7.3.2 |
| Counting repeated positions | A position with an en passant capture available is a different position | FIDE Laws 9.2.3.1 |
From the rule book
FIDE, Laws of Chess (approved 7 August 2022, applied from 1 January 2023), Articles 3.7.3.1, 3.7.3.2 and 9.2.3 and Appendix C.9.3. Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: FIDE Laws of Chess taking effect from 1 January 2023 (FIDE Handbook E.01).