Interactions with the friend pieces are one thing. You also have to learn how to interact with the opponent’s pieces. In fact, the only interaction possible between your pieces and the opponent’s pieces is the capture ! Check this article and start capturing pieces !
The piece captures as it moves
The rule is simple: if an opponent’s piece is on a square controlled by one of your pieces, then on the next move, your piece can go to the square occupied by the opponent’s piece and capture it. This rule applies for the Rook, the Bishop, the Queen, the Knight, and the King.
We are going to study how to take with the pawn. Taking with the pawn is different than taking with the other pieces for one reason:
The pawn does not capture the same way it moves.
To sum up, the pawn moves forward straight, and takes forward diagonally. That’s what we are going to see in the next examples.
Of course, the black pawn on c6 cannot be captured as pawns capture diagonally.
Capturing “en passant” with the pawn
In the previous cases, the piece captures the same way it moves. However, this rule suffers one exception. Capturing en passant is a very specific capture made by the pawn that is a bit more complex.
in this particular case, the pawn is allowed to capture one square forward diagonally, when there is no opponent’s piece on this square !
To be allowed to make the “en passant” capture, the previous move from the opponent must have been “Push the pawn 2 squares forward, putting it next to a pawn of my opponent“.
But this will be clearer with an example…
This is all you need to know about the “en passant” capture. One important caveat that must be repeated again and again about the “en passant” capture”: the opposing pawn must have been pushed forward on the previous move. Another way to say this is that you cannot wait for the next move to capture the opposing pawn “en passant”: one move later, it is not possible any more.
Conclusion
Capturing pieces is what you have to master once you know how all the pieces move (Remember how the pieces move: King, Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight and Pawn). If you feel ready for it, you can test yourself on Chess captures.
There are still a few moves you have to learn, if you do not know them already:
Also, it is time to unveil an inconvenient truth: the true goal of the game is not to capture the enemy King, but to Checkmate your opponent.
