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Learn · Chapter 0. The Basics

The Pawn

This lesson is about me, can you believe it?! The pawn is the smallest piece, but you can't get anywhere without us: we build the wall in front of our army. We only move forward, one square at a time, and there's no road back — so every step we take needs thinking through. But we capture differently from how we move: only sideways, diagonally. Beginners often try to capture with a pawn straight ahead — you can't do that, remember it right away!

Let's start with a simple step. The pawn on e2 wants to go forward — push it exactly one square. That's how pawns slowly grab space and clear the road for their pieces. Don't worry, nobody's going to eat us here!

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Your move — make it on the board

Great! Step by step — that's how we pawns march to glory!

And now my favourite secret! While a pawn is still on its starting square, it's allowed a double jump — two squares forward at once. It only works once, on the very first move, so use it while you can! Beginners often forget about this and crawl one square at a time. Jump two squares from e2!

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Your move — make it on the board

Yay, the double jump! The first time I did it, I squealed with delight!

This is a preview — the full interactive lesson is in the app.

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