Chessschool

Lesson 9 of 13

Special moves

Three moves that surprise beginners: castling, en passant and promotion.

Castling

King and rook swap in one move: the king goes two squares toward the rook and the rook jumps over him. Only if neither has moved, nothing stands between them and the king is not in check and does not cross or land on an attacked square.

En passant

If a black pawn moves two squares and lands next to your pawn, you may capture it as if it had moved one square. Only right after that move.

Promotion

If a pawn reaches the last row, it turns into another piece: almost always a queen.

Try the rule yourself

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