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Rules of Chess: Castling FAQ. Frequent asked questions about castling.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Zelo Soyalp wrote on Fri, Oct 11, 2002 09:52 AM UTC:

There is no explanation whatsoever as to what castling is! I suggest the
first topic in this page to be 'what is catling'.
The rest seems to be very detailed and easy to understand.

Niecie wrote on Sun, Jan 12, 2003 10:43 PM UTC:

Yes, I agree with the comment made on 10 11 2002(Zelo Soyalp)!!! This page should also accompish the notion on 'Why should one castle?' Hit me back [email protected]!!!

Octavio wrote on Mon, Feb 10, 2003 11:55 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

By the rules, I assume the King nor the Rook may capture while castling. I'm not sure, though. Thanks.

Doug Chatham wrote on Mon, Feb 10, 2003 05:32 PM UTC:

Yes, that is correct. You cannot capture while castling.

towi wrote on Thu, Sep 11, 2003 10:08 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

very good, clear and comprehensive

Dan Smith wrote on Mon, Nov 3, 2003 09:55 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

thanks, your faq helped me to prove to my dad that he couldn't castle out of checkmate, and so i avoided having a huge row on my hands!

Mike Stachura wrote on Sat, Nov 8, 2003 04:44 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

I think this page does very well in explaining castling. I am teaching my seven year old daughter to play, and it answered all of her questions that I didn't know, until now. Thanks, Mike.

Richard Muller wrote on Wed, Jan 21, 2004 04:59 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Covered every possible question consisely and precisely, it seems to me.

Tom wrote on Mon, Jan 26, 2004 10:33 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

I liked it and it was very informative, but my most important question wasn't answered. Why would one castle, what advantage does it give one, and how do the castled king and rook then move after castling? And for that matter, can one 'uncastle', and if so, how?

Michael Nelson wrote on Tue, Jan 27, 2004 02:17 PM UTC:

There are two advantages provided by castling:

1. The King is safer near the corner behind a wall of pawns.

2. Brings the Rook towards the center where it can get into the action
more easily.

King and Rook move normally on subequent turns. 

There is no such move as 'uncastle', but some people use this term to
describe a series of Rook and King moves that restore the position of Rook
and King before castling.

Chewmefat wrote on Tue, Nov 2, 2004 08:40 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

Castling isn't always the best move. Having the King in the corner isn't
always safe especially if the three pawn in front haven't made a move.
This can trap the King and lose the game just by one rook attack.

From this, if your opponent decides to Castle, take advantage of this
sitution by trying to trap the King (or put him under pressure), but
remember not to be too aggressive. Playing aggressively with important
pieces (Queen & Rook) may be forced to be 'chased' around the board or
be taken.

Jovan wrote on Thu, Mar 9, 2006 08:05 PM UTC:

I think (99% sure) that you have defined castling wrongly!

Thomas McElmurry wrote on Thu, Mar 9, 2006 11:39 PM UTC:

The rules of castling stated here are correct. But please don't take my word for it; you can compare this page to the FIDE Laws of Chess (rule 3.8.ii).

What specifically is it that you think is defined wrongly?

John E. wrote on Sat, Apr 8, 2006 04:19 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

You have given a very clear description.

jJ wrote on Tue, Jun 20, 2006 02:33 AM UTC:

can the king castle with either rook or only the queens side?

Jeremy Good wrote on Tue, Jun 20, 2006 06:17 PM UTC:

Hi, either rook, queenside or kingside, in both cases, this is how it's done. I quote from the rules above, from the first question on this page. 'Castling is a special type of chess move. When castling, you simultaneously move your king, and one of your rooks. The king moves two squares towards a rook, and that rook moves to the square at the other side of the king. For more details, see the rules of chess, or the answers to the questions below.' One can only castle when there are no pieces in between king and rook, if neither the king nor the rook with which it is castling has moved before, one can't castle the king through check and the king can't castle into check - because the king can never put himself into check. That would be unkingly.

Travis wrote on Fri, Mar 16, 2007 08:52 PM UTC:

I have read in directions before that you can still castle on one certain side (queen side or king side?) if you have already moved your rook then moved it back. Is that so?

David Paulowich wrote on Sat, Mar 17, 2007 12:59 AM UTC:

Travis: you can never castle with a Rook after it has been moved. Castling with the other Rook may still be possible.

Anonymous wrote on Tue, Mar 11, 2008 04:33 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Liked the site a lot.. found everythng that i had questions about!

chessnoob wrote on Wed, Jan 7, 2009 06:57 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Thanks for the information. It was clear and answered all my questions about castling

Pierre L. Ullman wrote on Sat, Sep 19, 2009 06:25 PM UTC:

In playing black with my Excalibur set, I turned on the board after making
the following moves to explore the Center Game:
1. e4, e5
2. d4, e5xd4
3. Qxd4, Nc6
4. Qd2, Nf6
5. Nc3, Bb4
6. Be3, d5
7. e4xd5, Nxd5
8. Bxh7, Nf6
9. Be3
At this point I turned on the computer, setting up the game's
continuation by pressing 'on/clear,' then 'new game,' then the king
button, then 'mode,' and indicating the locations of the pieces according
to the directions.  I then set 'side' for black to move first, pressed
'clear,' set the level at 32, and pressed 'clear' once more.  I
attempted to castle but the computer did not allow it.  The only reason was
that h7 had been taken, but there is nothing to this effect in the rules of
chess.  Could you explain why the makers of Excalibur have configured the
game in this manner?

Jose Carrillo wrote on Sun, Sep 20, 2009 03:49 PM UTC:

The Excalibur program must have a bug. Castling is legal in that position.

Or you havenèt reset the castling flag or something like that on the Excalibur (I donèt own one, so I donèt know).

BTW, your Be3 moves are illegal in that sequence you provided, Bd3 is the correct move.

Your c1-Bishop (the one that actually can reach e3) is blocked by the d2-Queen.

Anonymous wrote on Mon, Feb 15, 2010 02:16 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Anonymous wrote on Tue, Jun 29, 2010 05:11 PM UTC:

I suggest the following revision:

Is it correct that a king or rook may not capture when castling?

As any piece being captured would have to be standing between the king and the rook, it goes without saying that neither the king nor the rook may capture when castling. Indeed, in the above diagram, even though all of the other five requirements are met, white is not allowed to castle.