Questions related to capturing in chess.

In standard chess, a capture is effected by means of one piece moving to occupy the square occupied by an opposing piece. The opposing piece is immediately removed from the board and hence from play.

Most pieces capture by moving normally to occupy the opposing piece's square; the exception to this is the Pawn (see ), which captures by moving one space diagonally forward (to the right or the left), rather than a space directly forward, as it normally moves.

There is one rare and specialized form of capture, called en passant. This is effected by a Pawn which is in its fifth rank moving diagonally forward (right if the opposing Pawn is to the right; left if it is to the left) to capture an opposing Pawn which is in the same rank. En passant is only allowed when the opposing Pawn has, in the immediately previous move by the opposing player, just been moved to occupy its position next to the offensive Pawn.

The King (see ) cannot be captured, as it is kept away from or immediately removed from attack at all costs. In the event that the King is under attack, and the only moves available to a player keep it exposed to attack, the game is ended in favor of the attacking player. This is called checkmate (see ).