Because en passant can only occur after an opposing pawn has moved two steps forward, as a general rule pawns may only capture en passant on the 5th rank (for white) or the 4th (for black). Again, en passant is only legal the turn the two-step advance is made.
Can a bishop capture a pawn en passant?
First of all, neither a rook nor a knight can make the single diagonal “en passant” move. Of course, kings, queens, and bishops can, so the question is why they do not. A pawn moving two squares represents a group of lightly armored foot soldiers moving at “double time” (speed, actually).
What does it mean to capture a pawn en passant?
Capturing a pawn en passant is capturing as if he moved only one square. Pawns are opportunistic little guys; I mean, just look at the lengths they’ll go to just to get a promotion! The rule to allow pawns to move two squares on their first move was introduced in the 15th century.
Is the en passant move legal in chess?
There are a few requirements for the move to be legal: The capturing pawn must have advanced exactly three ranks to perform this move. The captured pawn must have moved two squares in one move, landing right next to the capturing pawn. The en passant capture must be performed on the turn immediately after the pawn being captured moves.
Why are pawns not allowed to evade capture?
One possible reason why this rule wasn’t expanded and implemented for pieces is due to the static nature of pawns (which can’t move backwards), which is not the case for pieces; having a pawn move past a square defended by an enemy pawn to evade capture was deemed unacceptable, whereas it is alright to evade capture by a piece.
Can a piece move backwards to capture a pawn?
Differently from pawns, pieces can move backwards, so the black Knight in your example still has the possibility to move backward and stop/capture the white a pawn. Therefore no need of allowing the en passant rule for pieces.
