How the pawn moves
The pawn is the only piece that captures differently from the way it moves, the only one that cannot go backwards, and the only one that turns into something else. It is the most complicated piece on the board.
- Moves forward
- Takes diagonally
- Never backwards
- Worth 1 point
A pawn moves straight forward, one square at a time, and it never moves backwards. Not once, not ever, not even to escape. Forward for White means up the board towards rank 8. Forward for Black means down towards rank 1.
The first move: one square or two
A pawn on its starting square. It has two legal moves, and the engine agrees: one square to e3, or two squares to e4.
The two-square first move
A pawn that has not moved yet may go two squares instead of one. Only on its very first move, only if both squares in front of it are empty, and it cannot be saved up for later. Once a pawn has taken a single step it moves one square at a time for the rest of the game.
That two-square jump is what makes en passant exist, and it is the only reason that rule is in the game.
After it has moved once
The same pawn one square further on. It has one move now, not two. The double step is gone for good.
Pawns capture diagonally, and only diagonally
This is the rule that surprises everyone. A pawn moves straight ahead but it takes one square diagonally forward, left or right. So a pawn can be standing directly in front of an enemy queen and neither of them can touch the other.
Two ways to take, one way to move
The white pawn on e4 has three legal moves: it can take on d5, it can take on f5, or it can push to e5. Two captures and a step, computed by the engine.
Why your pawn has no moves at all
Put an enemy pawn directly in front of a pawn and both of them are frozen. Neither can capture forwards, because pawns do not capture forwards, and neither can step through the other. It takes a third piece to break the deadlock.
Blocked, with nothing to do
White's pawn on e3 has zero legal moves. It cannot take the pawn on e4 because that pawn is in front of it rather than diagonal to it, and it cannot walk through it.
What happens when a pawn gets to the end
A pawn that reaches the far rank stops being a pawn. You replace it with a queen, rook, bishop or knight of your own colour, on the spot, as part of the same move. Nine times out of ten you take the queen. The full rules, including the times you should deliberately take something else, are on the promotion page.
White to move. A pawn that has got a long way up the board changes what every other piece is doing. Find the move.
Show the answer
32...Re2 33.Rf8+ Rxf8 34.exf8=Q#
The line ends in checkmate. The position is from a real game on Lichess, rated 734 in their puzzle pool, and it is one of the positions in the Promotion skill in the trainer.
Questions people ask
Can a pawn move backwards in chess?
No. A pawn is the only piece on the board that cannot move backwards, and there is no exception to it. That is what makes every pawn move permanent: a square a pawn has left is a square it can never defend again. It is also why pushing a pawn in front of your king is a decision rather than a move, and why weak squares stay weak.
Can a pawn capture forwards?
No. Pawns capture one square diagonally forward and move one square straight forward, and the two are never the same square. A pawn standing directly in front of your pawn blocks it completely and neither pawn can take the other. En passant looks like an exception but is not: the capturing pawn still moves diagonally.
Can a pawn move two squares to capture?
No. The two-square move is only ever a move to an empty square, never a capture, and it is only available on that pawn's first move with both squares in front of it clear. A pawn capture is always exactly one square, always diagonal, always forward.
How many pawns do you start with?
Eight, standing in a row on your second rank, a2 to h2 for White and a7 to h7 for Black. They are worth one point each, which is the unit everything else on the board is measured in.
Related
Pawn sits under How the pieces move in the reference. Nearby:
- En passantTaking a pawn that ran past yours
- PromotionA pawn that reaches the end becomes a piece
- Piece valuesWhat each piece is worth, and why
- Passed pawnNo enemy pawn can stop it queening
- Board setupWhich way round, and what goes where
- KnightAn L shape, over anything in the way
- BishopDiagonals only, one colour forever
- RookStraight lines, and it likes open ones