En passant (French: “in passing”) is a special pawn capture in chess. It can only occur immediately after a pawn moves two ranks forward from its starting square, and an enemy pawn is positioned so that it could have captured it had the pawn moved forward only one square. The enemy pawn captures the just-moved pawn "as it passes" through the first square. The resulting position is the same as if the pawn had moved only one square forward and had been captured normally.
“Chess is the struggle against the error.” – Johannes Zukertort
i can’t stop thinking about chess.
yes, that’s right, you heard me: chess.
it’s reasonable to say, at this point, that this new-found fervor has well eclipsed the realms of fascination and infatuation and has, for all intents and purposes, become a full-blown obsession – a compulsion? an addiction.
but how did this happen? how can this happen?
if eight months ago you asked me when the last time i’d played chess was, i wouldn’t have been able to remember. i suspect this would be your answer if i were to ask you the same question today.
like most people: i knew the rules of chess; i had played a few scattered games here and there throughout my youth; i neither liked nor disliked the game (i mean, it’s chess, most people’s opinion of it is that they have no opinion on it); and i basically never gave it any thought. i’m sure you can relate.
because, let’s face it, chess is a board game, like monopoly, and how much excitement can one garner for a pastime that’s mainly apt for winter cottaging and power outages?
of course, i’ve since realized that i was mistaken from the outset.
because chess is not a board game at all.
chess is a sport.
now i know what you’re thinking. the temptation to roll one’s eyes is strong after a line like that. in our culture, you hear “sport” and immediately you think: ball, movement, blood, sweat, tears. physical endurance and athleticism are, for most people, synonymous with what constitutes and qualifies as a sport.
but in reality, chess is every bit as real and competitive as any other sport. chess requires as much time, dedication, and practice as anything else. sure, there is no physicality to chess; but that’s because it is a mental sport. A Battle of Minds. and the fortitude and discipline required to compete at a world class level stands in equal measure to those demanded of from elite athletes.
of course, i didn’t know any of this eight months ago when, at the insistence of a friend, i agreed to play against him online. i downloaded the chess.com app and he handily beat me in our first game, and then again, even faster (mate in 11), in our second. but during that second game, something happened. i noticed that due to some kind of glitch on the app, my buddy was able to make an illegal move on the board. i immediately sent him a text claiming foul play, and it was then that he told me the move was indeed not illegal, but rather one of two in the repertoire of “special” moves in chess: the en passant capture.
and so it was.
unbeknownst to me at the time, i had fallen in love, just like that, en passant.
i’ve often wondered why discovering this relatively minor (albeit cool) move has thrust me down this ever-deepening rabbit hole of chess. i think that it has to do with the fact that eight months ago – even though i didn’t play chess – if you had asked me whether i understood all the rules, i would have responded with a resounding and categorical yes. i think realizing (definitively, indubitably) that i didn’t know what i thought i knew – that i was wrong – was really the impetus behind this whole thing. when your perception of reality is effectively challenged, leaving little room for ambiguity, the results are often rather impactful. it is (it was) a deeply heuristic and eye-opening experience and in whatever capacity it happens, it always leaves a mark.
for me, it was chess.
so i started playing. i primarily play online against strangers because when you ask people to play chess with you, they literally think you are joking. the fervency with which i was developing an affinity for the sport grew strength, and quickly. i began watching video analyses of professional games, learning tactics, understanding theory, reading articles, following chess news, and so it went.
today, i basically can’t stop contemplating chess. it’s really all i want to do. i play everywhere, all the time. it’s all i think about and i have surprised even myself with the level of passion (obsession?) i’ve developed in such a short period of time.
so.
what’s so cool about chess?
everything.
no, seriously: everything.
at the risk of sounding trite and saccharine (or has that ship sailed already?), chess is, in many ways, a lot like life.
first and foremost, chess is a battle. not a dirty, win-at-all-costs battle, but rather a deferential one. a war; but one of integrity. sometimes of attrition, other times of aggression. there are armies and rules of engagement in chess. there are ambushes, quagmires, sieges, traps, and coups d'état (this last one is not true, it's just a cool thing to say). there is sportsmanship. you do not kill in a battle of chess, you capture. you do not defeat, you checkmate.
chess is about patience. about strategy. it’s devising a plan, and then thinking many steps ahead. it’s about having foresight and overcoming obstacles (both emanating from your own camp, as well as from your opponent's). chess is the struggle against the error. and when an error is made, as in life, chess becomes about the maintenance of composure in the aftermath. how you deal with a blunder is just as important as trying to avoid committing one in the first place. because in chess, as in life, mistakes are often inevitable. and the longer you play, the higher the stakes.
chess is beautiful. it’s artistic. it’s emotional.
and of course, consequently, it is really fun to play.
it is a game just cerebral enough to dissuade the riffraff from being interested; and just simple enough to be accessible to anyone with a little patience and a desire to learn.
i think perhaps one of the reasons i love playing so much is the challenge it poses. a good game of chess is akin to mental gymnastics. you really have to use your mind – and use it well – to play chess. it requires effort, which may very well be the reason so few are interested in ever playing (because they would rather spend their idle hours looking at memes, being mesmerized by the news, and trawling the internet for mental sustenance, which is, in my opinion, today’s primary substitute for independent critical thinking).
if you know who i am, and we’ve interacted in person over the last eight months, you will have heard me talk about chess. there is very little chance that i won’t bring it up in everyday conversation today. it’s become a part of my daily routine – like running and reading and meditation – and i want other people to play too! many people avoid it entirely lest they lose. i’d like to change that. chess is fun whether you win or lose (but it’s more fun when you win!).
i am of course distinctly aware that this whole ooooohmygoodness you have to play chess it’s so amazing! attitude is akin to the ones people have about crossfit, yoga, and scubadiving, amongst others. i get it. everyone has their thing. and that’s cool. but so is chess ;p
where is all this going?
obviously, i have neither intention nor delusion to be actually good at chess. and by actually good, i mean participating in and winning tournaments. one cannot simply pick up a sport at the age or 34 and expect to make any kind of meaningful progress beyond the amateur level.
but just because you can’t play like lionel messi, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t play football at all.
my intention is to get my ELO (chess rating) to about 1250-1300 by the year’s end, and perhaps to 1700 as a long-term goal. that will be enough to make this whole venture a total success.
i suppose, for now, the only thing to do is keep playing and, hopefully, getting some close friends more interested in playing and learning along with me, en passant.
alright. enough of this - time for a game!
i have the white pieces.
The London System.
here we go.
d4.