2600x2600px 300dpi Image. There are 16 pawns in total in a chess game (8 black and 8 white). A pawn can move forward to the unoccupied square immediately in front of it on the same file, or on its first move it can advance two squares along the same file, provided both squares are unoccupied (black dots in the diagram). A pawn can capture an opponent's piece on a square diagonally in front of it by moving to that square (black crosses). A pawn has two special moves: the en passant capture and promotion.