The First Double Step

Part of the Fundamentals section of Coddy's Chess journey. Lesson 18 of 41.

One square at a time would make for a slow start, so the rules give every pawn a single burst of speed: from its starting rank (rank 2 for White, rank 7 for Black), a pawn may move two squares forward instead of one:

White pawn on e2 with arrows to e3 and e4

From its home square e2, this pawn may take one step to e3 or the big double step to e4. Its choice.

Two conditions. First, both squares must be empty: pawns never jump, so a piece on either square in the path shuts the door. Here a bishop camps on e4, and the double step is gone while the single step remains:

White pawn on e2 can only move to e3 because a black bishop occupies e4

The bishop on e4 blocks the landing square. Only the single step to e3 is left.

Second, it works only from the starting rank. A pawn that has moved, even once, walks one square at a time for the rest of the game. The double step is why real games so often open with a pawn landing on e4 or d4: it is the fastest way to claim the center, and you will do exactly that in the last chapter of this journey.

Try it yourself

The white pawn on e2 has not moved yet, but a black knight camps on e4. Click the only square the pawn can move to.