Learn to Play Chess: The Pawn

Ever heard of the expression “I am just your pawn”? It is usually used when a person is being manipulated and in the event, being sacrificed for the good of the other. Well, the pawn basically moves the same way in chess. It is the foot soldier that is on the start of the battle field. If you want to learn to play chess, this is the piece you start off with.

The pawn moves differently on how it captures. When it moves towards the enemy’s line for the first time, it can move one square or two squares forward. If it has already moved, from here on, it can only move forward one square at a time. It is sort of like a foot soldier that has limited movement capabilities.

In terms of capturing, the pawn move one square diagonally either to the left or to the right, whichever piece your pawn wants to capture. Again, the pawn can only go to as much as capturing one square diagonally, like a foot soldier with a relatively short sword or a soldier that has a short ranged bow.

If a pawn reaches the end of the enemy’s board, then this pawn can become whatever rank he wants to be. It’s like a soldier being promoted to a higher rank for being an effective soldier. The pawn can be a rook, a bishop, a knight or even a queen. It cannot choose to be a pawn again (why would anyone do that?) or a king.

A pawn cannot move one space back like other pieces but it can move “en passant,” which is in response to the two-square-move now being implemented for pawns.