Pawn (chess) Pawn (chess) The pawn (♙,♟) is the most numerous piece in the game of chess, and in most circumstances, also the weakest. It historically represents infantry, or more particularly, armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins a game with eight pawns, one on each square of the immediately in front of the other pieces. (The white pawns start on a2, b2, c2, d2, e2, f2, g2, h2; the black pawns start on a7, b7, c7, d7. e7, f7, g7, h7.) Individual pawns are referred to by the on which they stand. For example, one speaks of "White's f-pawn" or "Black's
Chaturaji chess-like games where it is the elephant that normally corresponds to the chess bishop. Player turns pass clockwise around the board. The pawn also moves as in chess, but does not have the option of an initial double-step move. Each of the four players' pawns moves and captures in a different direction along the board, as implied by the initial setup. For example, the red pawns which start on the g-file move left across the board, promoting on the a-file. Also, pawn promotion rules are different: one must promote to the piece that starts on the same (or ) of