Answers.Body: <p>You are right, this is nonsense. From the <a href="http://www.fide.com/fide/handbook?id=124&amp;view=article" rel="noreferrer">FIDE laws of chess, article 5</a>:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>The game is drawn when the player to move has no legal move and his king is not in check. The game is said to end in ‘stalemate’.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>If capturing en passant is possible, it is a legal move so if it is the only option, Black is required to play the move. (Or not to move at all and lose through the clock.)</p>
  
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Answers.Text: Indeed. En-passant is no more and no less an "optional move" than any other move. The  idea that it was an option that a player may choose not to take was the basis of a joke in Fraenkel's *Adventure in Chess* (1951, published under the pseudonym Assiac). Unfortuntately I no longer have a copy to check, but the position Fraenkel used might even be the one in @Andrea's OP.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Rosie F
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Answers.Text: @RewanDemontay Unfortunatelly, whoever made the website you link made a mistake setting up the first position!
Answers.UserDisplayName: David
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Answers.Text: I believe you mean this position? I’m just here to help! https://www.futilitycloset.com/2010/06/09/intercepted/
Answers.UserDisplayName: Rewan Demontay
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Answers.Text: @RewanDemontay Nice philosophical question posed in the link. of course the rules address who's right, but this question seems to be directed at what the rules should be rather than what the rules are. (normative instead of positive)
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Answers.Text: @RewanDemontay Correct book, and close, but that wasn't quite the example I was thinking of. IIRC it was another example in the same chapter.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Rosie F
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Answers.Text: @RosieF Late reply, haha. If it can be dig up it'd help.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Rewan Demontay
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Glorfindel
Body: <p>Consider the following position:</p>
  <pre><code>8/7p/5K1k/8/7p/7P/5PP1/8 w - - 0 1
  
  1. g4 hxg3
  </code></pre>
  <p>In the above postion, White plays g2-g4. The only legal move is hxg3, en passant. I heard someone say that since the en passant capture is optional, Black can refuse to play it and have the game declared a draw by stalemate. I think this is nonsense and believe that as long as there are legal moves available there's no stalemate.</p>
  <p>Who is right?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2015-12-30T17:42:08.353Z
Comments.Text: Capturing en passant is the weirdest move in chess. When someone was taught the rule, they were told it was optional - because it is.  Now they have confused "optional to play an en passant capture" with "moving is optional because en-passant is optional". It is easy to see how someone could make that mistake.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Tony Ennis
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Comments.CreationDate: 2015-12-30T18:29:28.063Z
Comments.Text: Its optional in the same way that every other move in chess is optional. At the end of the day you still need to pick one of them though.
Comments.UserDisplayName: David says Reinstate Monica
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Comments.CreationDate: 2015-12-30T19:02:00.853Z
Comments.Text: It is only optional if you have another option :-)
Comments.UserDisplayName: Marco
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Comments.CreationDate: 2020-11-10T12:18:42.090Z
Comments.Text: Capturing en passant is a legal move. There is no such thing as an „optional“ move in chess.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Christian H. Kuhn
Tags: <rules><stalemate><en-passant>
Title: When en passant is the only legal move
ThreadText: # When en passant is the only legal move
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2015-12-30)
  
  Consider the following position:
  
  ```
  8/7p/5K1k/8/7p/7P/5PP1/8 w - - 0 1
  
  1. g4 hxg3
  
  ```
  
  In the above postion, White plays g2-g4. The only legal move is hxg3, en passant. I heard someone say that since the en passant capture is optional, Black can refuse to play it and have the game declared a draw by stalemate. I think this is nonsense and believe that as long as there are legal moves available there's no stalemate.
  
  Who is right?
  
  **Tags:** rules, stalemate, en-passant
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Capturing en passant is the weirdest move in chess. When someone was taught the rule, they were told it was optional - because it is.  Now they have confused "optional to play an en passant capture" with "moving is optional because en-passant is optional". It is easy to see how someone could make that mistake.  
  > **username_2**: Its optional in the same way that every other move in chess is optional. At the end of the day you still need to pick one of them though.  
  > **username_3**: It is only optional if you have another option :-)  
  > **username_4**: Capturing en passant is a legal move. There is no such thing as an „optional“ move in chess.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_5 on 2015-12-30. Score: 46 | Accepted answer
  
  You are right, this is nonsense. From the [FIDE laws of chess, article 5](http://www.fide.com/fide/handbook?id=124&view=article):
  
  > The game is drawn when the player to move has no legal move and his king is not in check. The game is said to end in ‘stalemate’.
  
  If capturing en passant is possible, it is a legal move so if it is the only option, Black is required to play the move. (Or not to move at all and lose through the clock.)
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_6**: Indeed. En-passant is no more and no less an "optional move" than any other move. The  idea that it was an option that a player may choose not to take was the basis of a joke in Fraenkel's *Adventure in Chess* (1951, published under the pseudonym Assiac). Unfortuntately I no longer have a copy to check, but the position Fraenkel used might even be the one in @username_0's OP.  
  > **username_8**: I believe you mean this position? I’m just here to help! https://www.futilitycloset.com/2010/06/09/intercepted/  
  > **username_7**: @username_8 Unfortunatelly, whoever made the website you link made a mistake setting up the first position!  
  > **username_9**: @username_8 Nice philosophical question posed in the link. of course the rules address who's right, but this question seems to be directed at what the rules should be rather than what the rules are. (normative instead of positive)  
  > **username_6**: @username_8 Correct book, and close, but that wasn't quite the example I was thinking of. IIRC it was another example in the same chapter.  
  > **username_8**: @username_6 Late reply, haha. If it can be dig up it'd help.  
  
  ---
  
  