One of the biggest frustrations I have when playing against a chess player who is not so experienced is that of trying to explain that there is a rule called En Passant. They do not believe that this rule exists, however it does.
The En Passant rule occurs when a player moves his Pawn two squares from the beginning position. If the Pawn moves past another Pawn that could have taken it had the Pawn only moved one square, then the opposing player can exercise his right to take the Pawn, even if it has moved two squares. Should the player who has the opportunity to enforce the En Passant rule not take it immediately that option occurs, then he looses his right in later moves to enforce this rule. In other words, this option only stays open for one move.
The reason for developing the ‘En Passant’ move was after Pawns were allowed to move more than one square from the initial position. The ‘En Passant’ rule made sure the Pawns retained some of the restrictions imposed by slow movement, whilst at the same time it speeded up the game.
