Castling is a chess term that is used for a special move - the rearrangement of two pieces at once, as a result of which they change places on the chessboard. Like other moves in chess, castling has clearly defined rules.
Castling concept
An ordinary move within a chess game involves the movement of one piece within the framework of the admissible algorithm of movement on the board. In this respect, castling is an exception to the rule, since during it two chess pieces move simultaneously at once. At the same time, the pieces that can participate in castling are strictly defined: these are the king and the rook, which is sometimes also called a round or a tower.
In order for a chess player to make a decision to make this move, it is necessary to form special circumstances in the course of the game, which, on the one hand, make it possible in accordance with the rules of the move, and, secondly, determine its expediency. The fact is that as a result of castling, the positions of both pieces involved in it change significantly, so it is necessary that the change in the position of both be beneficial to the player.
Castling rules
One of the key rules of castling is that by the time of its implementation, all the pieces participating in it, that is, the king or rook, must remain in their original places, where they are from the beginning of the game. If these pieces have already made any moves and then returned to these positions, it will be impossible to castle. In addition, in order to castling, it is necessary that all squares of the square between the rook and the king are free, that is, there are no other pieces on them.
As you know, a chessboard consists of 64 fields - 8 in each direction. Therefore, the distance from the original position of the king to the initial position of each of the rooks of his color is not the same: for example, there are two free squares between him and the right rook, and three squares between him and the left rook. Therefore, the castling rules determine the movements of the king, and the movements of the rook are tied to them.
So, in both right and left castling, the king must move, respectively, to the right or left side by two cells. After that, a move is made with the rook, which must take a position to the right of the king. Such castling, depending on the nature of each of them, is usually called long and short, respectively.
After that, the castling is considered complete. At the same time, during one chess game, each player can make only one such move, so you should carefully consider whether its use in the current situation is really expedient, or this possibility should be reserved for a more suitable case.
