Really enjoyed the article about Valerie Munro’s love of teaching the game of chess to her students in Pequannock and how she is putting together a unique series which describes the features of each chess piece.
The pawn is the least valued piece as it is only worth 1 point, but it can make a big difference when a game of chess is typically decided.
One slight inaccuracy in the article is the French term “passant” when it actually is called “en passant,” which means “in passing.”
This is often a very difficult rule to teach children as it is a very unique type of capture of an opposing pawn, and one would have to make that capture on the very next turn.
If one move passes, one does not have another opportunity to capture ”en passant.”
I once had a tournament game where I had the opportunity to capture en passant and did not take the opposing pawn, and later in the same game, another pawn was moved by my opponent, and my pawn was still sitting on the same square, and on that first opportunity, I captured en passant as my opponent was confused and that led me to win the game.
I wish Valerie the best of luck in her book series and can’t wait to see how the other chess pieces turn out.
David A. Cole, Chess Master
Franklin