called doubled pawns. Doubled pawns are substantially weaker than pawns which are side by side, because they cannot defend each other, they usually cannot both be defended by adjacent pawns, and the front pawn blocks the advance of the back one. In the diagram, Black is playing at a strategic disadvantage due to the doubled c-pawns. There are situations where doubled pawns confer some advantage, typically when the guarding of consecutive squares in a file by the pawns prevents an invasion by the opponent's pieces. Pawns which are both doubled and isolated are typically a tangible weakness. A single piece or pawn in front of doubled isolated pawns blocks both of them, and cannot be easily dislodged. It is rare for a player to have three pawns in a file, i.e. tripled pawns. Wrong rook pawn In chess endgames with a bishop, a may be the wrong rook pawn, depending on the square-color of the bishop. This causes some positions to be draws that would otherwise be wins. History The pawn has its origins in the oldest version of chess, chaturanga, and it is present in all other significant versions of the game as well. In chaturanga, this piece could move one square directly forward and could capture one square diagonally forward. In medieval chess, as an attempt to make the pieces more interesting, each pawn was given the name of a commoner's occupation: Gambler and other "lowlifes," also messengers (in the left-most file, that direction being literally sinister) City guard or policeman (in front of the left-side knight, as knights trained city guards in real life) Innkeeper (in front of the left-side bishop) Doctor (in front of the queen) Merchant/money changer (in front of the king) Weaver/clerk (in front of the right-side bishop, as they worked for bishops) Blacksmith (in front of the right-side knight, as they cared for the horses) Worker/farmer (in front of the right-side rook, as they worked for castles) The most famous example of this is found in the second book ever printed in the English language, The Game and Playe of the Chesse. Purportedly, this book, printed by William Caxton, was viewed to be as much a political commentary on society as a chess book. The ability to move two spaces and the related ability to capture en passant were introduced in 15th-century Europe; the en passant capture spread to various regions throughout its