How to castle in chess? It’s a simple process, you have to take the king to two squares toward the rook, whether it’s a left side or right side.

Why castling in chess is important?

Castling in chess is important because you move away your king from the center in order to avoid your opponent’s attack. As you know that in the opening we have to control the center why? because if you control the center then you have dominance over your opponent.

So you castle the king in order to provide a shield from your opponent and at the same time you bring the cornered rook to the center where it will be more active.

How to do a castle in chess?

You have to take the king to two squares ahead and bring the rook to the left side of the king if castling short or if you are castling queenside bring the rook to the right side of the king.

In the picture below you can see that white has two options, white can castle king side or can castle queen side.

Let’s see how it looks when white king castles short side and long side. Here is the image of castling kingside and castling queenside.

Here are some conditions and rules you have to follow in order to castle your king.

Castling Rules in chess

• There should not be any pieces between your king and the rook like knight and bishop. Two squares between your king and rook must be empty.
• Your king and rook should not be moved before the castling.
• The right way to castle is that you should take the king first place two squares ahead and then bring the rook.
• Your king must not be in check if you want to castle.
• The empty two squares between your king and rook must not be hit by your enemy pieces. You will see an explanation below.

Conditions where your king can not castle

Here are some conditions when you can not castle. These conditions must be in mind when you are playing chess. I will put here pictures of the chess position where you can not castle. These positions will help you to understand the situation where you can not castle.

You can not castle because the bishop controls the square

As you can see the white can not castle because the black bishop is preventing and controlling the on which white king has to cross for castling. This trick will also work in the reverse if you want to stop your opponent from castling.

You can not castle in check

As you can see the white king is in check so it’s not allowed to castle, in this position if the white can play Be3 and hide his king the white will be able to castle. Please remember that you can not castle while your king is in check.

King’s square is protected by the queen

In general, you should not move the king’s pawns because it weakens the king’s shelter, white is unaware of the fact and he moved the pawn to f3. Black took advantage and stopped the white king because the black queen controls the square on which the white king will be placed.

A knight can stop castling

The knight is stopping the white king from castling because it’s controlling those squares on which the white king will go.

How to castle in chess queen side

The castling rules work on both sides so you will follow all the rules as you follow on the castling kingside. One key thing to castling queenside is that you must know that your king can only move two squares to the left side or to the right side in castling. And the rook will be placed on the left side of the king[if castling king side] or to the right side of the king[ if castling queen side].

How to castle early in chess

If you want to castle early in chess then you should castle king side [short side] because you have to develop only two pieces in order to castle short and quick. Here is an example of the game that explains that white can castle kingside in four moves.

Frequently asked questions about castling in chess

Here are some questions that may come to your mind related to castling in chess. I have answered these questions briefly.

How many moves to castle in chess?

If you are castling short side then it will take 4 moves. You can watch the example which is mentioned above.

How to castle in online chess?

In online chess, you have to take the king place after two squares to the right side if you are castling short and if you are castling long then to the left side. Remember that if you just place the king in one square then you can not and you will lose the right castle also. So make sure you place the king after two squares.

Which way to castle in chess

Which way you are castling depends on your position in the game, the general rule is to castle kingside because it will take fewer moves and your king will be safe and you will castle quickly.

But in some openings like open Sicilian if you castle long then you will have the advantage. For example, if you are playing against the dragon variation then you should long castle and start the attack.

Conclusion

Castling in chess is easy, and if you read the whole article then you have the rules to obey and some tricks that will help you in castling, like stopping your opponent from castling and how to castle quickly and which way to castle.

If you have any other questions regarding castling in chess, then feel free to ask.