Castling
Each player may "castle" only once during a game and
when conditions are met. Castling is a special move that
lets a player move two pieces at once — the King and one
Rook. In castling, the player moves his King two squares
to its left or right toward one of his Rooks. At the same
time, the Rook involved goes to the square beside the King
and toward the center of the board (see illustrations
below). In order to castle, neither the King nor the Rook
involved may have moved before. Also, the King may not
castle out of check, into check, or through check.
Further, there may not be pieces of either color between
the King and the Rook involved in castling.
Castling is often a very important move because it
allows you to place your King in a safe location and also
allows the Rook to become more active.
When the move is legal, each player has the choice of
castling Kingside or Queenside or not at all, no matter
what the other player chooses to do.
Before Kingside Castling
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After Kingside Castling
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Before Queenside Castling
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After Queenside Castling
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En Passant
This French phrase is used for a special pawn capture.
It means "in passing," and it occurs when one player moves
a pawn two squares forward to try to avoid capture by the
opponent's pawn. The capture is made exactly as if the
player had moved the pawn only one square forward.
In the diagram, the Black pawn moves up two squares to
the square with the dot. On its turn the White pawn may
capture the Black one on the square marked with the X. If
the White player does not exercise this option immediately
— before playing some other move — the Black pawn is safe
from "en passant" capture for the rest of the game. But
new opportunities may arise for each pawn in similar
circumstances.
