Castling in Chess
In chess, castling can be an effective way of strategy in the defense of your king. You will be providing a safe place for him to go. The act of castling will involve two pieces, the rook and the king. There are two different ways to castle. There are special rules of chess and conditions that must exist in order to castle in the game of chess.
These conditions must exist in order to put castling into play:
Neither of the chess pieces involved, the king or the rook has been castled and have been moved during the game.
There are no other chess pieces between the king and the rook involved in the castling.
Your king is not in check and your king and rook cannot be taken by the opponent's next move after castling.
You can castle with either of the rooks as long as long as these special conditions are met. The moves involved in castling with the Queenside rook are different than castling with the king's side rook. This is quite natural given that there are only two spaces between the king and the rook on the kingside and three spaces on the queenside. You should not forget that just before castling, you must stand up and announce to your opponent that your King shall castle. It is also followed by a slight bow before sitting back down.
This chess rule is often overlooked and ignored but you can impress your opponent with this procedure. They will not be expecting it and they may respect you a little more in the game because you are aware of the true game rules and the proper way to play the game.
You should know and understand this rule before you take to the chessboard. This will only help you with your game and you may improve as well. In the game of chess, you are always going to find out something new and you need to keep it in the back of your mind for the entire game.