BREAKING: En Passant Removed

Edited April 2nd: Happy April Fool's! I hope this made you smile.

For 461 years, the rules of chess have been somewhat questionable, and most definitely outdated. That last major change was over 150 years ago, although just today, The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has announced that the rule, en passant, was to be removed. In case you were unfamiliar with this rule, en passant is where pawns are given the option to capture a pawn after it lands aside of the pawn usually on the 4th or 5th rank depending if you are playing black or white.

En passant, otherwise known in French as "in passing," is a rule that was generally accepted around the time it was introduced. Although it was not universally accepted until the 1880s. The reason for this change was due to the new two-square initial pawn move. It was first introduced since the community at the time thought it would be unfair if a pawn had reached the 4th or 5th rank, and then a pawn on its first move could simply pass it! Though FIDE has taken things into its own hands and decided that this rule is outdated and simply doesn't apply well to the current chess circumstances.

Why Was En Passant Removed? 

Why did FIDE make such a great change to the game of chess? Well due to the angry emails and complaints about this magical pawn capture move, FIDE decided that enough was enough, and removed it due to the confusion and outdated laws of en passant. Here is one of the many angry emails that chess.com received a few days prior to the major rule change.

hi danny, i suspect my oponent CHEATED in this game....... although it could also be a bug in the system..... as you can seee in my game....... my oponent playing white has pawn on e5!!!! and then i play d5 and then somehow he takes my pawn with exd6?????? this is imposible since MY PAWN WAS NEXT TO HIS!!!  I believe that my opponent cheats although if it is truly a bug plz fix it and refund my points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As chess has become more popular in the past year, many beginners are starting to play and many have decided to quit chess due to this confusing rule. On the bright side, after this change, I believe that many more beginners will come back to chess as this mind-bending rule has been removed. 

How Does This Affect Chess?

Not only does removing en passant introduce a new thing to worry about, but it also provides a new layer that players have to be more careful about. Although something that I find extremely positive about this new change is beginners will have less to learn, and won't have to learn this rule-bending move that magically abducts a pawn.

This change also changes a few openings such as the Scotch Gambit and the Dutch Defense, although these changes are minor, this could mean that the Scotch Gambit and Dutch Defense could quickly lose popularity. This also affects many puzzles that feature en passant, obviously, this is quite a controversial change so many top players have already shared their thoughts. 

Social Media Reacts

My Thoughts 

Although this will make draws more common, and likely will allow passed pawns to be created more commonly, I think that this change will attract beginners which is generally good for the chess community. Not only will this change provide a new layer of challenge to the game of chess. Furthermore, it also changes much of the opening and endgame theory which could make chess much more interesting at the top level. What's your opinion on this controversial rule change? Share your thoughts in the comments below! Shoutout to @Sep-Gol for somehow figuring out the three games in the background of my last blog. Thanks for reading, cya.