Why castle in chess?
Simply put, castling is a special rule that allows your king and rook to switch places.
Well, the King and Rook don’t exactly exchange places. The King moves two squares to its right or left (depending on whether you’re castling King-side or Queen-side) and the Rook hops over to the other side of it.
How to castle in chess on mac?
For you to castle, most programs require you to move the king over your rook or you move it to its destination square to castle. If you are wondering how to switch king and rook in chess on your MacBook Chess game, you need to move the King to its destination square. That is from e1, e8, to g1, g8, and for queenside castling, c1, or c8. At that point, your Mac’s Chess game understands you are castling and will move the Rook over to f1,f8, d1, or d8 for you, depending on the direction you castle to.
Why castle in chess?
Castling is largely concerned with keeping your king safe, as the move typically removes your most valuable piece from the center of the board and tucks him behind a wall of pawns.
Games are won and lost by players deciding whether or not to castle. When it comes to beginners, a large percentage of games are lost simply because a novice player does not protect their king. As a result, it is advantageous to castle.
What does castling achieve in chess?
Castling accomplishes two things: first, it creates a safe haven for your king (when played at the right time), and second, it develops your rook, bringing it closer to the center of the board where it can enter the game.
Castling is thus a very useful maneuver. However, as with any chess move, you must determine when it is appropriate to play it (it always makes sense to castle early in your games).
Rules for castling
There are rules about when you can castle. Here are the rules for castling:
- Your king must not have moved- Once your king moves, you can no longer castle, even if you move the king back to the starting square. Many strategies involve forcing the opponent’s king to move just for this reason.
- Your rook must not have previously moved- If you move your rook, you can’t castle on that side anymore. Both the king and the rook you are castling with can’t have moved.
- Your king must not be in check- Though castling often looks like an appealing escape, you can’t castle while you are in check! Once you are out of check, then you can castle. Unlike moving, being checked does not remove the ability to castle later.
- Your king can not pass through check- If any square the king moves over or moves onto would put you in check, you can’t castle. You’ll have to get rid of that pesky attacking piece first!
- No pieces should be between the king and rook- All the spaces between the king and rook must be empty. This is part of why it’s so important to get your pieces out into the game as soon as possible.
- Your king must not be in check after castling- This will make your castling an illegal move!
Castling FAQs
- Why is Castle called Rook? It is believed to come from the Persian word rukh, meaning chariot. There are many theories as to how the present version was arrived at, but one possible explanation is that when the game was imported to Italy, the Persian rokh became the Italian word rocca, meaning fortress.
- Is castling a good move in chess? Castling is always a good move in general circumstance
- Can you castle out of Checkmate? No you cant. Remember the rules of castling: you can’t castle through a check line. Besides, it would not be checkmate if you could castle out of it; checkmate occurs only at the end of the game.
- What is the advantage of castling in chess? King-safety and developing your rook, which gets to pop out into the open and affect the game.
- Can you castle on the queen side in chess? Yes the king can castle both sides.
- Can you castle if Rook is under attack? Yes you can
- How many times castling can be done in chess? Twice – once each for Black and White.
- Can you Castle your queen? No you can’t.
Now that you’ve learnt how to castle in chess on mac pc, check out:
join the conversation