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Special moves: castling, en passant and promotion

Chess has three special moves. They are where beginners get stuck most often, and this page explains them.

On this page
  1. Castling
  2. En passant
  3. Promotion

All three moves work in our online chess game, and the board checks for you whether each one is allowed.

Castling

Castling moves the king and one rook in a single turn. The king moves two squares towards the rook, and the rook jumps over the king to land on the square next to it. It tucks the king away in a safer corner and brings the rook into play.

Kingside castling: king e1 → g1, rook h1 → f1.
Queenside castling: king e1 → c1, rook a1 → d1.

You may castle only if all of these are true:

  1. Neither the king nor that rook has moved yet.
  2. There are no pieces between the king and the rook.
  3. Your king is not in check right now.
  4. The square the king passes over and the square it lands on are not attacked by your opponent.

In the game, tap the king, then the square it should go to (for example g1). Tapping your own rook works too. If castling isn't allowed, that square isn't marked.

The five cases where you can't castle, and when you should, are covered in Castling.

En passant

A pawn may move two squares on its first move. If that lands it right beside an enemy pawn, the enemy pawn may capture it on the very next move only, as if it had moved just one square: it moves diagonally onto the square the pawn passed over, and the pawn is removed.

The black pawn has just moved from d7 to d5 in one go, landing beside the white pawn on e5. The white pawn can move diagonally to d6 and capture the black pawn on d5.

If you don't take it on the next move, the chance is gone. In the game, an en passant capture is marked like any other move you can make.

Where this rule comes from, and when it is worth using, is explained in En passant.

Promotion

When a pawn reaches the last rank (rank 8 for White, rank 1 for Black), it must at once become a queen, rook, bishop or knight. It can't stay a pawn, and it can't become a king. So a side can have two queens on the board at once.

When the pawn on e7 reaches e8, it promotes.

In the game, a "Promote to" menu appears when your pawn reaches the last rank: just pick a piece. Tap outside the menu to cancel and move again. Most of the time you'll want a queen, since it's the strongest piece; once in a while a knight gives check or even mate straight away.

Now that it makes sense, play a free game of chess and look for a chance to castle.

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