En Passant: The Chess Rule Explained With Examples

What is en passant in chess? Learn how this special pawn capture works, the exact conditions, why the rule exists and how to write it in notation.

En passant is the strangest-looking rule in chess, and it surprises almost every new player the first time they see it. A pawn captures an enemy pawn that is not on the square it moves to, and the captured pawn disappears from the square next to it. It looks like a bug, but it is a real rule that has been part of chess for about 500 years.

The good news: en passant is simple once you see it. It only ever happens in one specific situation, and this guide shows you exactly when.

What is en passant?

"En passant" is French for "in passing". It is a special capture that a pawn can make against an enemy pawn that has just moved two squares forward from its starting position and landed right beside it.

The capturing pawn moves diagonally forward onto the square the enemy pawn skipped over, and the enemy pawn is removed from the board, just as if it had moved only one square.

Click "Show me" to watch it. Black's pawn jumps two squares from d7 to d5, landing next to White's pawn on e5. White captures en passant by moving to d6:

The conditions for en passant

An en passant capture is possible only when all of these are true:

1. Your pawn is on its fifth rank. For White that is the 5th rank; for Black it is the 4th rank (the fifth rank counted from Black's side).
2. An enemy pawn moves two squares forward from its starting square in a single move.
3. It lands directly beside your pawn, on the square to its left or right.
4. You capture immediately, on the very next move. If you play anything else, the right to capture that pawn en passant is gone for good.

The capture itself works like a normal pawn capture, except that your pawn lands on the empty square behind the enemy pawn (the square it passed), and the enemy pawn is taken off the board.

Try it yourself

Black has just played d7-d5. Capture en passant with your e5 pawn:

Black can capture en passant too. Here White pushes the c-pawn two squares, right next to Black's pawn on d4:

Why does the en passant rule exist?

Pawns originally moved only one square at a time. When the two-square first move was introduced in Europe around the 15th century to speed up the opening, it created a loophole: a pawn could race past an enemy pawn that was waiting to capture it.

En passant closes that loophole. Your opponent can still move a pawn two squares, but you keep the capture you would have had if it had moved one square. In other words, the pawn cannot "sneak past" yours.

Is en passant mandatory?

No. En passant is optional, just like any other capture. The only time you must capture en passant is when it is your only legal move, for example when it is the only way to get out of check. That situation is rare but it does happen in puzzles.

Remember the timing: the option exists only on the move immediately after the two-square pawn push. If you wait one move, you can no longer capture that pawn en passant.

How to write en passant in notation

In algebraic notation, en passant is written like a normal pawn capture, using the square where the capturing pawn lands. In the first example above, White's move is exd6. Some players add "e.p." to make it clear: exd6 e.p. Both are correct.

Common en passant mistakes

• Trying it too late. The right expires after one move.
• Trying it against a pawn that moved one square twice. En passant only applies to a single two-square move from the starting rank.
• Trying it with a piece. Only pawns can capture en passant, and only enemy pawns can be captured that way.
• Forgetting the pawn disappears. In over-the-board games, remember to remove the captured pawn from the square next to yours, not from the square you land on.

En passant also matters for draws: a position only counts as "the same position" for threefold repetition if the same en passant captures are possible.