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Chess/en passant

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Expert: - 4/15/2011


Question
If my opponent moves a pawn from rank 7 to rank 5 and I have a pawn on rank 6, normally I can take my opponent's pawn en passant. If my opponent's move would have been a mate but for the en passant, is my en passant not allowed, thereby creating a mate? I ask this because on a chess site, that happened and I was stunned.

Answer
Actually, your pawn has to be on the fifth rank to capture en passant.  You remove your opponent's pawn and then place your own pawn on the sixth rank, exactly as though your opponent had moved his pawn to the sixth (rather than the fifth) rank and you were capturing it in the conventional manner.

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Tony D'Aloisio

Expertise

I've read a good deal on the subject and I can answer a lot of chess history questions (or at least I'll know where to look them up). Also questions regarding analyzing specific positions (although with the advent of powerful chess software, this isn't likely to have the importance it once did).

Experience

I was a national master in the US for a number of years. My peak USCF rating was 2290, and I was ranked in the top 150 in the state of California. My current published rating is 2177.

Education/Credentials
B.A. Sonoma State University 1984 (English major with Communications emphasis)

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