Answers.Body: <blockquote>
    <p>Positions are considered the same if and only if the same player has the move, pieces of the same kind and colour occupy the same squares and the possible moves of all the pieces of both players are the same.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>After 5...Ra8, the same player has the move, pieces of the same kind and colour occupy the same squares and the possible moves of all the pieces of both players are the same. Therefore, Black can claim a draw.</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Thus positions are not the same if ... at the start of the sequence a pawn could have been captured en passant....</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>At the start of the sequence the pawn could not be captured en passant.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-08-17T21:47:11.710Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2014-08-17T21:47:11.710Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: dfan
Body: <p>Effective July 2014, the FIDE has revised its <a href="http://www.fide.com/component/handbook/?id=171&amp;view=article" rel="noreferrer"><em>Laws of Chess.</em></a>  Some questions occur regarding the revision, including one re draws and <em>en passant.</em></p>
  
  <pre><code>[Title "Black to move"]
  [FEN "1rb1kbnr/ppppqppp/6n1/4P3/8/1PN5/P1PP2PP/1RBQKBNR b kq - 0 1"]
  
  1... d5 2. Ra1 Ra8 3. Rb1 Rb8 4. Ra1 Ra8 5. Rb1
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>After Black pushes his queen pawn two squares, White could capture <em>en passant,</em> except that the capturer is pinned against its king.  So instead (just to illustrate the point), our players start shuffling their rooks back and forth.</p>
  
  <p>After 5. Rb1, can Black write 5... Rb8 on his scoresheet, stop the clocks, and claim draw by repetition?</p>
  
  <p>Another way to ask the question: is the <em>en passant</em> position Black's move 1 introduces effectively an <em>en passant</em> position after all, according to the FIDE's revised <em>Laws of Chess?</em></p>
  
  <p><strong>DISCUSSION AND REFERENCES</strong></p>
  
  <p><em>Laws of Chess,</em> sect. 9.2:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>The game is drawn, upon a correct claim by a player having the move, when the same position for at least the third time (not necessarily by a repetition of moves): (a) is about to appear, if he first writes his move, which cannot be changed, on his scoresheet and declares to the arbiter his intention to make this move, or (b) has just appeared, and the player claiming the draw has the move.  Positions are considered the same if and only if the same player has the move, pieces of the same kind and colour occupy the same squares and the possible moves of all the pieces of both players are the same. Thus positions are not the same if ... at the start of the sequence a pawn could have been captured en passant....</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>To <em>me,</em> this says that Black can indeed claim the draw mentioned above.  However, decades of experience suggest that different players can understand the same rulebook language differently, especially in obscure cases like the present one.  Is it possible to read this rule differently?  One would like to be sure.</p>
  
  <p>Related, earlier questions and answers on StackExchange, predating the FIDE's July 2014 revision, include <a href="https://chess.stackexchange.com/q/777/315">this.</a></p>
  
  <p>Further reading: <a href="http://www.chesscafe.com/archives/archives.htm#An%20Arbiter%27s%20Notebook" rel="noreferrer">Geurt Gijssen.  Arbiter's Notebook.</a></p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-08-18T08:32:50.470Z
Comments.Text: There is a problem with your example -- presumably, in the initial position both sides have not moved their king and queen's rook yet, and thus Rb1/Rb8 *lose castling rights*. And that makes the positions not the same.
Comments.UserDisplayName: RemcoGerlich
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-08-18T22:27:30.827Z
Comments.Text: By the way, from here it looks like the passage in question didn't change in the new rules.
Comments.UserDisplayName: chaosflaws
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-08-27T10:33:08.033Z
Comments.Text: @RemcoGerlich:  Your observation is sharp.  Example fixed.  Thanks.
Comments.UserDisplayName: thb
Tags: <rules><draw><fide><en-passant>
Title: Draws, en passant, and the FIDE's 2014 rulebook revision
ThreadText: # Draws, en passant, and the FIDE's 2014 rulebook revision
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2014-08-17)
  
  Effective July 2014, the FIDE has revised its [*Laws of Chess.*](http://www.fide.com/component/handbook/?id=171&view=article) Some questions occur regarding the revision, including one re draws and *en passant.*
  
  ```
  [Title "Black to move"]
  [FEN "1rb1kbnr/ppppqppp/6n1/4P3/8/1PN5/P1PP2PP/1RBQKBNR b kq - 0 1"]
  
  1... d5 2. Ra1 Ra8 3. Rb1 Rb8 4. Ra1 Ra8 5. Rb1
  
  ```
  
  After Black pushes his queen pawn two squares, White could capture *en passant,* except that the capturer is pinned against its king. So instead (just to illustrate the point), our players start shuffling their rooks back and forth.
  
  After 5. Rb1, can Black write 5... Rb8 on his scoresheet, stop the clocks, and claim draw by repetition?
  
  Another way to ask the question: is the *en passant* position Black's move 1 introduces effectively an *en passant* position after all, according to the FIDE's revised *Laws of Chess?*
  
  **DISCUSSION AND REFERENCES**
  
  *Laws of Chess,* sect. 9.2:
  
  > The game is drawn, upon a correct claim by a player having the move, when the same position for at least the third time (not necessarily by a repetition of moves): (a) is about to appear, if he first writes his move, which cannot be changed, on his scoresheet and declares to the arbiter his intention to make this move, or (b) has just appeared, and the player claiming the draw has the move. Positions are considered the same if and only if the same player has the move, pieces of the same kind and colour occupy the same squares and the possible moves of all the pieces of both players are the same. Thus positions are not the same if ... at the start of the sequence a pawn could have been captured en passant....
  
  To *me,* this says that Black can indeed claim the draw mentioned above. However, decades of experience suggest that different players can understand the same rulebook language differently, especially in obscure cases like the present one. Is it possible to read this rule differently? One would like to be sure.
  
  Related, earlier questions and answers on StackExchange, predating the FIDE's July 2014 revision, include [this.](https://chess.stackexchange.com/q/777/315)
  
  Further reading: [Geurt Gijssen. Arbiter's Notebook.](http://www.chesscafe.com/archives/archives.htm#An%20Arbiter%27s%20Notebook)
  
  **Tags:** rules, draw, fide, en-passant
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: There is a problem with your example -- presumably, in the initial position both sides have not moved their king and queen's rook yet, and thus Rb1/Rb8 *lose castling rights*. And that makes the positions not the same.  
  > **username_2**: By the way, from here it looks like the passage in question didn't change in the new rules.  
  > **username_0**: @username_1:  Your observation is sharp.  Example fixed.  Thanks.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2014-08-17. Score: 14 | Accepted answer
  
  > Positions are considered the same if and only if the same player has the move, pieces of the same kind and colour occupy the same squares and the possible moves of all the pieces of both players are the same.
  
  After 5...Ra8, the same player has the move, pieces of the same kind and colour occupy the same squares and the possible moves of all the pieces of both players are the same. Therefore, Black can claim a draw.
  
  > Thus positions are not the same if ... at the start of the sequence a pawn could have been captured en passant....
  
  At the start of the sequence the pawn could not be captured en passant.
  
  
  ---
  
  