How the Pawn Moves in Chess
In every game of chess, there are 32 pieces, or 16 per side. Of these, players have 8 pawns each. The pawn is the weakest of all pieces on the chessboard – but it should never be underestimated. It’s a beginner’s mistake to sacrifice pawns without getting any advantage whatsoever, thinking that they’re expendable.
The first thing that you need to understand about pawns is that they are vital to any game of chess being played. How you combine them will have a profound influence in how the game plays out. But these are some of the more advanced pawn-strategy concepts that novice players don’t need to bog their minds with.
First things first, we need to learn how the pawns move in order to start planning our pawn strategy down the line. The main way a pawn moves is one square forwards. If there’s a blocking pieces (your opponent’s or your own) right in front of your pawn, then it can no longer move forward across the chess board.
There are special rules in terms of how the pawn moves, though, and you need to be aware of them. The first special rule is that the pawn can move two square forwards if this is its first move and if there are no other pieces in the two squares. If the pawn moves in any way, then it won’t be able to “jump” over two squares at any time in the game.
The pawn can also be used offensively, as it can capture your opponent’s pieces. The way the pawn attacks and captures is diagonally towards the opponent’s side on the table. So, if there’s an enemy piece diagonally to your pawn, you can capture it. Note that if there’s no piece diagonally of your pawn, you can’t move it in this direction.
But what happens if the pawn reaches the end of the board? It can’t move neither vertically nor diagonally anymore. Well, if this happens, then the pawn gets promoted. It will then be replaced with any other piece from the chessboard, apart from the king. So, you could promote your pawn to a knight, bishop, rook, or even a queen. If you do this, it means that your pawn has reached its maximum potential in the game.
Lastly, there’s one special move involving pawns that goes by the name “en passant”. This move is a pawn capture move in which your pawn can capture an enemy pawn that has advanced its position for two squares in one move. If this happens, then you have the option to immediately capture the enemy pawn with your own pawn. However, if you fail to act on en passant, then you’ll lose the chance to capture the enemy pawn with this move.
If you followed through the guidelines above, it means that you’re well on your way to understanding how the pawn moves in chess. With a little practice, you will find that moving the pawns becomes like a second nature to you. Also, in time, you’ll learn how to move all the other pieces of the game – and this will set the base so that you can start planning and implementing evermore advanced chess strategies.
If you still have any doubts about the rules of the pawn in chess, I suggest you learn more by watching the following video.
Well now I think it's all clear.
Finally, I propose a final exercise on the pawn in which you can practice what has been studied in this lesson.
See you at the next lesson!
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