The Blue Book of Chess | Page 9

he leaps, for, in that case, the adverse Pawn has the option of taking him in his passage, as if he had moved one step only. A Pawn is the only one of the forces which goes out of his direction to capture, and which has not the advantage of moving backwards; but it has one remarkable privilege, by which, on occasions, it becomes invaluable, _whenever it reaches the extreme square of the file on which it travels, it is invested with the title and assumes the power of any superior Piece, except the King, which the player chooses_. From this circumstance it frequently happens that one party, by skilful management of his Pawns, contrives to have two, and sometimes even three Queens on the board at once, a combination of force which of course is irresistible.
As we before observed, the Pawn is the only man which captures in a direction different from his line of march. Suppose, at the opening of the game, White begins by playing King's Pawn to King's fourth square (see the article on Notation), Black may reply in the same manner with King's Pawn to King's fourth square, and neither Pawn can do more than remain an obstruction to the onward march of the other, but if Black answer instead with King's Bishop's Pawn to Bishop's fourth, or as in the diagram, with Queen's Pawn to Queen's fourth, then White, if he choose, may take the adverse Pawn from the board and place his own in its stead.
No. 7.
BLACK.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| R*| N*| B*| Q*| K*| B*| N*| R*|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| P*| P*| P*| | P*| P*| P*| P*|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | P*| | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | P | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| P | P | P | P | | P | P | P |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| R | N | B | Q | K | B | N | R |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+