In chess, a passed pawn is a pawn with no opposing pawns to prevent it from advancing to the eighth rank, i.e. there are no opposing pawns in front of it on the same file nor on an adjacent file. A passed pawn is sometimes colloquially called a passer. Passed pawns can be an advantage because only the opponent's pieces can prevent them from promoting.
In the diagram at right, the white pawns on b5, c4, and e5 are passed pawns. Black's pawn on d4 is a passed pawn. If Black plays fxg4, then Black will also have a passed pawn on g4, and White will have a passed pawn on f4.
Read more about Passed Pawn: Protected Passed Pawn, Outside Passed Pawn, Passed Pawns in The Endgame, Quotes
Famous quotes containing the words passed and/or pawn:
“There are no signposts in the sky to show a man has passed that way before. There are no channels marked. The flier breaks each second into new uncharted seas.”
—Anne Morrow Lindbergh (b. 1906)
“In ceremonies of the horsemen,
Even the pawn must hold a grudge.”
—Bob Dylan [Robert Allen Zimmerman] (b. 1941)