Castling
Castling
Castling is a unique move where the king and rook move at the same time. Actually during tournament play, the king should be moved first, then the rook. Although you move two pieces, it is counted as a single move.
To castle, the king is moved two squares toward the rook. Then the rook is transferred over or around the king to the square adjacent to the king on the same rank (Figure 1).
Castle long or short
The king can castle with either rook. In Figure 2 the Black king has castled on the king side, this is referred to as castling short, and the White king has castled on the queen side, this is referred to as castling long (because the rook has a longer path to travel).
Castling is illegal if the king has moved before castling, or with a rook that has moved before castling. Castling is illegal if there is any piece between the king and the rook with which it castles. The squares between the king and the rook have to be empty or you can not castle until they are moved out of the way. It is also illegal to castle if the king is in check, moves through check, or into check. In Figure 3 the White king cannot castle short because this would be castling through check (the f1-square is under attack).
The Rules of Chess
- Basics Improve logical thinking, memory and problem solving
- Chess Board The pathways of the pieces
- Queen The most powerful piece on the board
- Rooks Form a battery to increase their power
- Bishops A long range attacking piece
- Knights Must be centralized to be effective
- Pawns They move along the file and attack on the diagonals
- King If your king is in checkmate you lose the game
- Castling Keep the king safe and give him a castle
- Checkmate Game over
Illegal to castle