En Passant in Chess: What It Means and How to Use It
En Passant — A special pawn capture occurring when an opponent's pawn advances two squares and can be captured as if it moved one square.
What “en passant” means in chess
En passant is a special pawn capture available only under specific circumstances. When an opponent's pawn advances two squares from its starting position (from rank 2 to rank 4 for White, or rank 7 to rank 5 for Black) and lands beside one of your pawns on the fifth rank (for White) or fourth rank (for Black), you may capture it "in passing" as if it had moved only one square. The captured pawn is removed from the board, and your pawn moves diagonally forward one square to the square the opponent's pawn passed through.
En passant capture is legal only on the very next move after the opponent's two-square pawn advance. If you do not capture en passant immediately, the right is lost forever. This is the only capture in chess that removes a piece from a square other than where the capturing piece lands. The capture is optional if you have other legal moves available, but if it is the only legal move, you must play it.
En passant exists to prevent pawns from "escaping" the threat of capture by advancing two squares instead of one. Without this rule, a pawn could safely bypass an opposing pawn that would have captured it had it moved only one square. En passant is written in algebraic notation as, for example, exd5 e.p. or sometimes just exd5, with "e.p." clarifying the special nature of the move.
En Passant on the board
White captures Black's pawn en passant on move 2 after Black advances d5.
How it plays out in practice
- Remember: en passant is only legal immediately after the opponent's two-square pawn advance. If your next move is something else, the en passant right vanishes.
- Watch for en passant opportunities when your opponent pushes a pawn two squares past your pawn. It can win material if the opponent isn't careful.
- If you plan to advance a pawn two squares, check whether an opposing pawn can capture en passant. If so, it may be safer to advance one square instead.
- En passant is most relevant in the opening and early middlegame; it's rarer later because most pawns have already moved.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting en passant exists. A pawn advancing two squares is not automatically safe; check for en passant capture threats.
- Trying to capture en passant on a later move. The capture must happen on the very next turn or the right is forfeited permanently.
- Confusing en passant with a normal pawn capture. En passant removes the pawn from the square it advanced to, not the square it passed through (in terms of where your pawn ends up).
Does this concept show up in your games?
Definitions are the easy part — the hard part is knowing whether en passant situations are winning or losing you games. Chess DNA analyzes your real Chess.com and Lichess games with Stockfish and shows the exact patterns — tactical motifs, structures, endgame situations — where you gain or lose rating, with targeted drills for the ones you keep getting wrong. Free to try on your recent games.
Frequently Asked Questions
When can you capture en passant?
Only immediately after your opponent advances a pawn two squares and it lands beside one of your pawns on the fifth rank (if you're White) or fourth rank (if you're Black). The capture must occur on your very next turn. If you pass and make any other move, the en passant right is gone forever.
Can you be forced to play en passant if you're in check?
No. Like all captures, en passant is optional unless it is the only legal move. If you are in check, you can play en passant if it resolves the check, or you can move the king, block, or capture the checking piece. You must resolve check, but you choose how to do it.
Is en passant ever required?
En passant is required only if it is the only legal move available to you. In almost all positions, you have other options. If en passant is your sole legal move, you must play it. Otherwise, capturing en passant is optional, even though the right is valid.
