The world’s brightest minds spend many hours practicing chess, learning thousands of combinations of moves that can be made with chess pieces. One of the basic plays of a chess player is castling. In today’s article, we explain what castling is and how and when it can be performed.
Chess is one of the oldest board games in the world. It was brought to Europe from India around the 6th century AD. It has undergone a number of evolutions to the form in which it is known today. According to historical records it was a game that kings liked to play. It was equally common in the homes of nobility and merchants.
Chess owes its popularity to its relatively simple rules. With a bit of willingness, everyone is able to remember what moves can be made with particular pieces or pawns. Therefore, anyone can play chess. However, not everyone can win. Grandmaster level is available only to a few.
The rules of the game are simple, which is why so often even children start the game. A chessboard consists of 64 squares – they are in two colors, alternately black and white. Vertical squares are marked with letters from A to H and horizontal squares with numbers from 1 to 8. When playing chess, you must master the art of moving your pieces and chess pieces to perfection. Each player has a set of six pieces and the same number of pieces:
8 pawns
2 knights
2 rooks
2 bishops (or pawns)
1 hetman (aka queen)
1 king
Chess is a game of strategy. The game between two players relies heavily on anticipating the opponent’s move. An advantage occurs when the opponent places the king in a rebid situation. Then the person whose king is threatened in the next move must resolve the crisis situation. Otherwise the game can end in a “deadlock”.
The game can also end in a draw on the request of one of the parties, under predetermined conditions. In tournament circumstances chess players play for time determined by a clock set next to the chessboard. Each player has an appropriate amount of time to make a move, exceeding the time may result in surrendering the game.
Castling is one of the most important defensive moves in chess. It puts the king in a safer position in relation to the pieces around him. It consists of moving the king by two positions, followed by moving the rook in such a way that it blocks access to the king.
One of the more complex and interesting maneuvers in chess is castling. In the early days of chess, this concept was…
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Tournament play is very different from a private chess game you might play with a friend. When playing in chess tournaments, you have to stick to the rules. Any departure from the set rules may result in the intervention of a referee.
It doesn’t matter which piece you touch first. You must use the correct combination of moves, otherwise your move may be treated as a violation of the rules. The rules of the game provide for a number of penalties, the most severe of which is exclusion from the tournament.
That’s why it’s important to keep in mind that you can make the first move with the king, and the rook only in the second move. You can plan such a maneuver keeping in mind the following aspects:
– on the king no attack play can be performed before or after the castling is performed;
– the field between the most important piece and the rook must be free;
– the king can’t make a move through the field that is being attacked;
– both pieces can’t have made any move from the beginning of the game until castling.
You have to decide yourself when to castle. The decision should be based on the situation you are in. Think about whether you have figured out your opponent’s plan and what the consequences of castling are. Also, remember to always keep your king’s safety in mind. Otherwise your whole elaborate defense plan can be ruined in a moment.
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