Capturing an Opponents Piece

To capture in chess, a player moves his piece onto a square containing an opponents piece. Any piece can capture any other piece as long as that piece is moving withing the rules of the game. After a player has captured an opposing player's piece, the opposing player's piece is removed from the board. The player who captured becomes the occupant of that square. Note: the only piece that cannot be captured is the mighty king.

Try it out!! Select the chess applet. Switch to PGN mode and in the large text area next to the chess board enter the following text:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6

Both of the knights may now capture a pawn, but white must do it first. Switch back to play mode and capture the black pawn with the white knight. The knight now occupies the square and the pawn shows up in the capturing blocks to the right of the board. Play around with captures on the board and see how pawns, queens, kings, bishops, knights, and rooks can all capture in the game of chess.