A Pawn can capture anytime

by Bruce Johnson
Can the first move of a pawn be a diagonal capture or does it need move forward one or two spaces before capturing?

———–Admin—————————
Hi Bruce,
a pawn can capture anytime no matter if it sits still on its original square or not.

See position below where Black will promote a pawn into a queen. For that a black pawn must reach the last rank. To achieve this Black will sacrifice his g-pawn to free the way for his e-pawn.

Black moves

Black plays 1…g3 and attacks the white f-pawn on its original square. The white f-pawn has never moved before.

The f-pawn will capture 2.fxg (or the black pawn will move ahead and promote) and after that Black can move his e-pawn forward playing 2…e3. The white king cannot catch the black e-pawn anymore.

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