en passant

i want to know a little more about en passant

Originally posted by dsn6789
i want to know a little more about en passant

The two move leap was introduced to speed up the game because
they use to start like this.



However, Those against the two move leap argued that a part
chess strategy would be lost.

The 5th rank pawn holding back unmoved pawns.
The pawns could now simply pass the 5th rank pawn.

So En Passant was introduced.

En Passant

White has just played 1.c2-c4



Position after Black captured En Passant

2.bxc3ep



It not obligitory to take En Passant if the opportunity presents itself.
However, if the player wished to capture EP. it must be played on the next move,
you cannot capture EP. three or four moves later.

EN Passent in Action

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If a pawn on its original square moves two squares and there is an opposing pawn on its fifth rank on an adjacent file, the opposing pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square. The conditions are:

the pawn making the en passant capture must be on its fifth rank
an opposing pawn on an adjacent file must move two squares from its initial position in a single move
the pawn can be captured as if it moved only one square
the capture can only be made at its first opportunity.

Just adding this because most posters leave out the fifth rank rule. In other words, you cannot capture en passant because once on the sixth rank you should have been able to capture straight up! I had this argument with an opponent OTB when I moved 2sq's when offered up a pawn and refused to take!

Further complications:

Threefold repetition and stalemate
The possibility of an en passant capture has an effect on claiming a draw by threefold repetition. Two positions whose pieces are all on the same squares, with the same player to move, are considered different if there was an opportunity to make an en passant capture in the first position, because that opportunity by definition no longer exists the second time the same configuration of pieces occurs (Schiller 2003:27).

In his book about chess organization and rules, International Arbiter Kenneth Harkness wrote that it is frequently asked if an en passant capture must be made if it is the only move to get out of stalemate (Harkness 1967:49). This point was debated in the 19th century, with some arguing that the right to make an en passant capture is a "privilege" that one cannot be compelled to exercise. In his 1860 book Chess Praxis, Howard Staunton wrote that the en passant capture is mandatory in that instance. The rules of chess were amended to make this clear (Winter 1999). Today, it is settled that the player must make that move (or resign). The same is true if an en passant capture is the only move to get out of check (Harkness 1967:49).