There are a few cases where making an en passant capture is illegal in chess, mostly in situations where one or more of the requirements for an en passant capture are not in place.

It is important to note that, because of the specificity of these rules, an en passant capture can only take place between two pawns and cannot involve any other type of chess piece such as a knight, bishop, rook, queen, or king.

In en passant, however, a pawn is able to capture another pawn that has moved into the square directly horizontal to it and does so by moving into the square directly behind the pawn it is capturing, removing the captured pawn from the board. In chess, en passant is a special type of move involving pawns, the lowest-ranking chess pieces on the board. The term “en passant” is derived from the French expression of the same spelling, which translates to “in passing” in English. This refers to the way in which a pawn is captured en passant.Įn passant is a unique chess move because it breaks the normal rule of pawns capturing other pieces. In standard chess rules, a pawn can only capture another piece when that piece is one square ahead of and directly diagonal to it, at which time the capturing pawn removes the other piece from the board and occupies its square.

En passant chess