Pawn (chess)
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King |
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Queen |
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Rook |
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Bishop |
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Knight |
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Pawn |
The pawn (♙♟) is the most numerous piece in the game of chess, and in most circumstances, also the weakest. It historically represents infantry, or more particularly, armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins a game of chess with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces. (The white pawns start on a2, b2, c2, ..., h2, while black pawns start on a7, b7, c7, ..., h7.)
Individual pawns are referred to by the file on which they stand. For example, one speaks of "White's f-pawn" or "Black's b-pawn", or less commonly (using descriptive notation), "White's king bishop pawn" or "Black's queen knight pawn". It is also common to refer to a rook pawn, meaning any pawn on the a- or h-file, a knight pawn (on the b- or g-file), a bishop pawn (on the c- or f-file), a queen pawn (on the d-file), a king pawn (on the e-file), and a central pawn (on either the d- or e-file).
Unlike the other pieces, pawns may not move backwards. Normally a pawn moves by advancing a single square, but the first time a pawn is moved, it has the option of advancing two squares. Pawns may not use the initial two-square advance to jump over an occupied square, or to capture. Any piece directly in front of a pawn, friend or foe, blocks its advance. In the diagram at the right, the pawn on c4 may move to c5, while the pawn on e2 may move to either e3 or e4.
Unlike other pieces, the pawn does not capture in the same direction as it moves. A pawn captures diagonally forward one square to the left or right. (See diagram.)
Another unusual rule is the en passant capture. It can occur after a pawn advances two squares using its initial two-step move option, and the square passed over is attacked by an enemy pawn. The enemy pawn is entitled to capture the moved pawn "in passing"—as if it had advanced only one square. The capturing pawn moves to the square over which the moved pawn passed (see diagram), and the moved pawn is removed from the board. The option to capture en passant must be exercised on the move immediately following the double-step pawn advance, or it is lost for the remainder of the game.
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