En passant is a legal chess capture available only immediately after an opposing pawn advances two squares from its starting square and lands beside your pawn. Your pawn captures it as though it had moved just one square. The capturing pawn moves diagonally to the square the opponent passed over, and the opposing pawn is removed from its actual square. The move must also leave your own king safe.
The FIDE Laws of Chess set out both the special pawn capture and the general rule against exposing your king to check. For a beginner, the easiest way to verify an en passant opportunity is to reconstruct the opponent's last move before touching either pawn.
| Check | What must be true |
|---|---|
| Opponent's last move | A pawn advanced two squares from its original square |
| Your pawn | It stands beside that pawn on the same rank |
| Timing | The capture is made on your immediately following move |
| Destination | The square the opposing pawn passed over |
| King safety | Your king cannot remain in check or become exposed |
How does en passant work? A white pawn example
Imagine White has a pawn on e5 and Black has a pawn on d7. Black plays d7 to d5, using the pawn's initial two square advance. Black's pawn now stands next to White's pawn on the fifth rank. White can capture en passant by moving the pawn from e5 to d6 and removing the black pawn from d5, provided the move is otherwise legal.
The unusual detail is the destination. White does not move from e5 to d5, which would be sideways. It still moves diagonally forward, to d6. The captured pawn is removed from d5 even though White's pawn does not finish on d5. That is the exception to the ordinary visual pattern of capturing a piece by occupying its square.
For Black, the pattern is reversed. Suppose Black has a pawn on e4 and White has a pawn on d2. If White advances from d2 to d4 in one move, Black may capture from e4 to d3 and remove White's pawn from d4. Again, this must be Black's immediate response and must satisfy king safety.
When is en passant allowed, and when does it expire?
FIDE's rule requires the opposing pawn to have just advanced two squares in one move from its original square. An opponent moving a pawn one square to stand next to yours does not create the same right. Nor can you claim en passant merely because the two pawns have been adjacent for several moves.
The opportunity lasts for the immediately following move only. Return to the e5 and d5 example: if White moves a knight instead of taking en passant, the special right to capture that pawn in that way has expired. White cannot wait for another move and then remove the pawn from d5 by playing e5 to d6.
The right belongs to the relevant pawn in the relevant position. It is not a special power available to a bishop, knight or king. Both colours can use it when the conditions are met. The rule does not limit the capture to the central files used in many teaching examples; those coordinates simply make the movement easier to follow.
Why can en passant be illegal when the pawns look correct?
Pawn geometry is only the first check. FIDE also prohibits any move that leaves the moving side's king under attack or exposes it to attack. An apparently available en passant capture can therefore be illegal because removing and moving the pawns opens a line towards the king.
Consider an illustrative position with White's king on e1, White's pawn on e5 and an opposing rook on e8. Assume the intervening e file squares are otherwise empty. White's pawn is blocking the rook's line to the king. Even if Black has just played d7 to d5, moving White's pawn from e5 to d6 would expose the king to the rook and is illegal.
That is why the full board matters. Check the position after moving your pawn and removing the opposing pawn. A beginner who examines only the destination square may miss the opened line. The same general king safety requirement applies whether the capture is played on a physical board or analysed as a practice position.
Is en passant compulsory, and how is it recorded?
The rule allows the capture; it does not require a player to take every available en passant opportunity. Any alternative move still has to be legal. If the king is in check, the chosen reply must resolve that check. The special pawn rule does not permit a player to ignore an attack on the king.
FIDE's algebraic notation guidance records a pawn capture using the starting file and the arrival square, with the capture marker. In the white example, exd6 describes the capture. The optional letters e.p. may be appended to identify en passant. The arrival square is d6, even though the pawn removed stood on d5.
The official handbook was checked on 4 November 2026. For more rules explained through their conditions, see when castling is legal in chess, badminton service requirements and super tackle scoring in kabaddi.
