What is chess castling?

Answer 1

Castling in Chess is a special move where you move two pieces at once (your king and a rook). To castle the following conditions must be met: 1) the king and the rook have not been moved, 2) the king is not in check, 3) the king will not move through or end up in check, and 4) there are no pieces between the king and rook. To castle, move the king two squares toward the rook, then move the rook to the square on the other side of the king and adjacent to it like below: K _ _ R (before castling) _ R K _ (after castling) R _ _ _ K (before castling) _ _ K R _ (after castling)

Answer 2

Castling is a special defensive maneuver. It is the only time in the game when more than one piece may be moved during a turn. This move was invented in the 1500s to help speed up the game and to help balance the offense and defense.

The castling move has some fairly rigid restrictions:

1. It can only occur if there are no pieces standing between the king and the rook.
2. Neither king nor the rook to be castled with may have moved from its original position. (The other rook may have already moved.
3. There can be no opposing piece that could possibly capture the king in his original square, the square he moves through or the square that he ends the turn.

The king moves two squares toward the rook he intends to castle with (this may be either rook). The rook then moves to the square through which the king passed. Hopefully, the diagram to the left makes this clear. If the king castles queen-side the rook must move four squares. However on the king-side the rook only moves three squares.

Strategy Note: Castling is a great aid in defensive strategy. It also has a tendency to bring a powerful rook into play when under normal circumstances it might be stuck behind a wall of pawns.

Answer 3

Castling is the only move in chess in which two pieces are moved simultaneously; the king and one of his rooks. In order for the move to be legal, neither the king nor the rook may have moved previously in the game, there must be no pieces between the king and rook, and the king cannot be in check, nor moved into check, nor moved through check.

The king moves two squares in the direction of the rook - the only time a king may move more than one square - with the rook moving to the first square on the other side of the king.

For white, the king moves from e1 to g1, the rook moves from h1 to f1, denoted as "0-0" and conventionally described as "castling kingside". Or, the king moves from e1 to c1, with the rook moving from a1 to d1, denoted as "0-0-0" and conventionally described as "castling queenside" or occasionally "castling long". For black, kingside castling would be king from e8 to g8; rook from h8 to f8. Queenside castling would be king from e8 to c8; rook from a8 to d8.

It is also worth noting that castling is considered to be a king move. In games where the "touch move" rule is in effect, the king must be moved first, otherwise the move is move is illegal and the player will be required to move his rook.