Which chess piece can capture a piece without landing on its square?

For the most part, the rules of chess are less complicated than they might seem. Each piece moves in a certain way, players take turns, pieces are captured by landing on the square they occupy, and the game ends when the king is under attack with no way out. But there are a few curveballs in there, so watch out. One somewhat lesser-known rule is that pawns can capture "en passant."

The French term means that pawns, who normally capture the usual way, by landing on the other piece's square, can in special cases capture other pawns by landing on the square behind them instead.

The weird rule only applies in one very specific case, though: When the captured pawn moves forward two squares from its starting square. If you have a pawn in the right spot when your opponent does this, you can capture their pawn as if it has only moved one square forward, rather than two.

If this all seems confusing, don't despair -- it's a rule that almost never comes up in casual play.