Pawn

Abbreviated P, drawn as ♟. Moves forward along a file by one square; from its starting square it may advance two squares at once; unlike the pieces it captures not along its line of movement but diagonally, one square forward; if a pawn advances two squares from its original square and ends up beside an enemy pawn on the same rank, that pawn may capture it en passant.

In the starting position each side has 8 pawns, filling every square of the second rank (the seventh for Black).

Promotion

A pawn that reaches the last rank (the eighth for White, the first for Black) must be replaced on the same move by a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of the same color, at the mover's choice, regardless of whether such pieces are already on the board. This replacement is called promotion.

Kinds of pawns

Depending on the file it stands on, a pawn is called a king's, queen's, rook's, bishop's, or knight's pawn. The e- and d-pawns are also called central, the a- and h-pawns edge pawns. The following names are also in use:

• passed pawn — when there are no enemy pawns on its own file or on the files next to it;
• outside passed pawn — a passed pawn far away from the enemy king;
• isolated pawn — when there are no friendly pawns on the neighboring files;
• connected pawns — pawns standing side by side on neighboring files or defending one another;
• backward pawn — one that cannot come up alongside a friendly pawn on a neighboring file;
• doubled (tripled) pawns — two (three) pawns of the same side standing on one file;
• blocked pawn — a pawn whose advance is mechanically halted by an enemy piece standing directly in front of it;
• hanging pawns — two connected central pawns with no friendly pawns on the neighboring files.