Rules & culture · 4 min read
En passant in chess: the rule and the meme explained
If you’ve ever watched an opponent capture a pawn by moving to an empty square, you’ve already met en passant. It’s a perfectly normal chess move, although it takes a little getting used to. Here’s how the en passant rule works, when you can use it, and why it became such a familiar chess meme.
The quick answer
En passant allows a pawn to capture an opposing pawn that has just advanced two squares and landed beside it. You capture as though that pawn had moved only one square, and you have to do it on your very next turn. As with any move, your own king must remain safe.
How en passant works on the board
En passant is French for “in passing,” which is a useful way to picture the move. Your pawn catches an opposing pawn as it passes, landing on the square that pawn crossed. Only pawns can make this capture, and they can only use it against another pawn. You can also find the rule in Chess.com’s en passant explanation.
In the example below, White already has a pawn on e5 when Black plays d7–d5. White can now play exd6: the white pawn moves diagonally to d6, and the black pawn is removed from d5. Although the captured pawn was beside yours, your pawn still makes its usual diagonal capturing movement.
Switch between the two positions to follow the capture. We’ve left most pieces off the board so it’s easier to see what changes.
When is en passant legal?
You can check whether an en passant capture is available by looking at four things:
- Your pawn is on its fifth rank, which is rank 5 for White or rank 4 for Black.
- An opposing pawn has just moved two squares from its starting square and finished beside yours on a neighboring file.
- You make the capture on your immediate reply.
- The capture leaves your own king safe.
These conditions are set out in FIDE articles 3.7.3.1–3.7.3.2. If the opposing pawn moved only one square to arrive beside yours, you can’t capture it en passant.
Why the capture has to happen straight away
In our example, White has a choice between capturing en passant and making another legal move. If White chooses Kf2 instead of exd6, the chance to capture that pawn en passant is gone, even if the two pawns stay beside each other for the rest of the game.
The same rule works for Black. A black pawn on e4 can capture a white pawn that has just advanced from d2 to d4 by moving to d3 and removing the pawn from d4. The direction is reversed, but the timing is exactly the same.
When your opponent pushes a pawn two squares, it’s worth taking a moment to look at your pawns on the neighboring files. You may have an extra capture to consider.
Remember to check your king’s safety
There’s one more detail that can explain why an en passant move is unavailable. Imagine White’s king on e1, a white pawn on e5, and a black rook on e8, with the rest of the e-file empty. If a black pawn has just arrived on d5, moving the e5-pawn to d6 would open the rook’s line straight to the white king.
That makes the capture illegal. If a chess app won’t let you capture en passant, check both the previous move and whether moving your pawn would expose your king.
What does the “Google en passant” meme mean?
The “Google en passant” meme comes from the surprise this move can cause when someone hasn’t seen it before. In a widely shared exchange, the instruction to look it up is followed by the reply “Holy hell.” Know Your Meme documents the exchange and its spread, including its popularity in the AnarchyChess community.
Over time, those replies became a familiar comment chain that people repeat even when everyone involved knows the rule. If you came here after seeing the phrase online, the unusual capture above is what it refers to.
You may also have seen people say that en passant is forced. That’s part of the meme: you don’t have to capture en passant if you have another legal move. If it happens to be your only legal move, then you must play it, just as you would with any other sole legal move.
Getting comfortable with the special chess moves
Once you’ve seen en passant on a board, it becomes much easier to recognize in a game. You don’t need to search for it on every turn; just keep it in mind when an opposing pawn advances two squares beside one of yours.
Castling is the other special chess move worth learning, especially as you start thinking about king safety in the opening. And if you’re still getting used to how games end, our stalemate vs checkmate guide compares the two outcomes with a simple board example.
Sources & further reading
The diagrams and exercises are teaching examples. Rules references apply to standard chess unless stated otherwise.