Lesson 08

Special Moves

01. Pawn Promotion

If a pawn advances all the way to the opposite end of the board, it is immediately "promoted" to another piece, usually a Queen, before the move is ended and the clock is hit. It may not remain a pawn or become a King. Therefore, it is possible for each player to have more than one Queen or more than two Rooks, Bishops, or Knights on the board at the same time.

The Pawn is very limited in its abilities, so it has a point value of 1. However, a pawn may promote to a value of 9, or when lost create a hole allowing the opponent to do so.

Before Pawn Promotion

After Pawn Promotion

02. En passant

This French phrase is used for a special pawn capture. It means "in passing," and it occurs when one player moves a pawn two squares forward to try to avoid capture by the opponent's pawn. The capture is made exactly as if the player had moved the pawn only one square forward.

If the White player does not exercise this option immediately (before playing some other move) the Black pawn is safe from "en passant" capture for the rest of the game. But new opportunities may arise for each pawn in similar circumstances.

Before En passant Capture

White Pawn moves b4

After En passant Capture