Special Rules in Chess

Here are some special moves or rules in a chess game.

Promotion :
Pawns have a special ability and that is if a pawn reaches the other side of the chess board, it can become any other chess piece ( called as promotion).  Normally a pawn is promoted to a queen when it reaches other side of the chess board.  Only pawns can be promoted.   We can have any number of queens when pawns reach other end of the board.  Or a pawn can be promoted to any other piece like Ruke, or knight etc. when it reaches other side of the board.  But the normal practice is that a pawn reaching other side becomes a queen.


En Passant :
 The last rule about pawns is called as 'en passan', which is a French word meaning "in passing".  If a pawn moves out two squares on its first move, and by doing so lands to the side of an opponent’s pawn (effectively jumping past the other pawn’s ability to capture it), that other pawn has the option of capturing the first pawn as it passes by. This special move must be done immediately after the first pawn has moved past, otherwise the option to capture it is no longer available. Click through the example below to better understand this odd, but important rule.

Castling : 
Another rule is called as Castling.  The rook is the second most powerful piece in the chess board but rook starts the game in a poor position (corner) to use its power.  And the king is in the center position which becomes increasingly vulnerable as the game progresses.  To overcome these kind of problems, castling was invented.  Castling is the only move in which two pieces are moved at a time. The king is moved two squares towards one of his rooks and and then the rook is placed on the opposite side of the king.  If the king is moved two squares towards to the right, the rook is placed one square to the left of the king.  This will help the king to be in a safe position behind the wall of pawns.  A king can castle only once in a game and can castle to either side.  In order to castle, the following conditions are to be met.

• it must be that king’s very first move
• it must be that rook’s very first move
• there cannot be any pieces between the king and rook to move
• the king may not be in check or pass through check

 Remember that when you castle one direction, the king is closer to the side of the board.  This is called as kingside.  Castling to the other side, is called as queenside.  Regardless of which side castling is done, the king always moves two squares when castling.  The castling is very powerful move and it is a good idea to do castling as early as possible in the game.

Here are the links to other articles in this blog.

History of Chess
Introduction to Chess
Special Rules in Chess
Check and Check Mate
How Games are Drawn