

Underpromotion occurs when a pawn is promoted to a knight, bishop, or rook instead of a queen. In rare instances, underpromotion is best. In the image below, we can see that moving the a7-pawn to a8 results in promotion! Promoting to a queen (or a rook) will lead to checkmate! Promoting the a-pawn to a queen (or rook) results in checkmate! It is up to the player who is promoting a pawn to decide which piece they are promoting to, although most of the time promoting to a queen is the desirable choice. So far the pawn doesn't seem too powerful, right? Well, pawns have the unique ability to be able to promote into a knight, bishop, rook or queen! If a white pawn reaches the eighth rank or if a black pawn reaches the first rank, then that pawn gets promoted. En passant in action! After Black's last move of e7-e5, White may capture the e-pawn on e6 for one move only! Promotion Since the black pawn moved two squares on its first move and because it is directly next to the white pawn on d5, White can capture the e-pawn with dxe6 (but only for one move). In the following diagram, Black has just played e7-e5.

This rule also works if a black pawn is on the fourth rank and a white pawn's first move places it directly next to the black pawn-in this case, the black pawn may capture the white pawn as if it moved just one square (but only for this move)! If a white pawn is on the fifth rank and a black pawn's first move places it directly next to the white pawn, then the white pawn can capture the black pawn as if it moved just one square. There is a special rule in chess regarding pawn captures known as en passant. The e4-pawn can capture the f5-pawn but not the e5-pawn. In the following position, the pawn on the e4-square can capture the black pawn on f5 but NOT the pawn on e5. The e4-pawn attacks the d5 and f5 squares.

In the diagram below, we can see that the pawn on the e4-square attacks the squares d5 and f5. The pawn attacks or captures one square diagonally in each direction. The pawn on the e4-square is blocked! How The Pawn Captures And En Passant In the following diagram, the white pawn on the e4-square can't move because it is blocked by the black pawn on the e5-square. The pawn can only move forward if it is not blocked by another piece. The e2-pawn may move to the squares e3 or e4 on its first move. Please note that if a pawn has already been moved, it can never move two squares again. If it is the pawn's first move, then it can move one or two squares. A pawn moves forward one square unless it is that pawn's first move. How The Pawn MovesĪs mentioned, the pawn is the least powerful piece. It is considerably less valuable than the other pieces by itself, but in many positions, three pawns are equal to or even stronger than a minor piece ( knight or bishop). The pawns at their starting positions.Ī pawn is worth one point. The pawns begin the game on the second and seventh rank: White's pawns start on the second rank, while Black's pawns are located on the seventh rank. When a game begins, each side starts with eight pawns. Here is what you need to know about pawns: As Philidor once said, "Pawns are the soul of chess!" I know that ghosts have wandered on earth.The pawn is the least powerful chess piece, but it can be promoted into any other chess piece (except for a king). "Why, she's a liar to the end! Where is she? Not there-not in heaven-not perished-where? Oh! you said you cared nothing for my sufferings! And I pray one prayer-I repeat it till my tongue stiffens-Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living you said I killed you-haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. "Why, she's a liar to the end! Where is she? Not there-not in heaven-not perished-where? Oh! you said you cared nothing for my sufferings! And I pray one prayer-I repeat it till my tongue stiffens-May she wake in torment!" he cried, with frightful vehemence, stamping his foot, and groaning in a sudden paroxysm of ungovernable passion. “May she wake in torment!" he cried, with frightful vehemence, stamping his foot, and groaning in a sudden paroxysm of ungovernable passion.
