Here's something I've been curious about for a little while, but I haven't really read much on the subject.  I admit I haven't exactly looked for an answer, but isn't that what you guys and gals are here for?  :)

 

My question is about castling.  I generally try to castle as soon as it's available to me, as long as I'm not forcing it.  However, I pretty much always castle to the King side.  Of course there must be situations where castling to the Queen side is more beneficial, but I don't know what those situations are.  Is there a rule of thumb regarding which side you should castle to, or does it rely on the situation 100%, and it's just something I need to learn for myself?

That is a good question I often struggle with myself.  But if you ask me, I usually wait until my opponent castles, then castle the opposite side so I can send the pawns that I didn't castle under up the file and create all kinds of trouble for the enemy king.

Queenside castling is part of the white strategy in some openings.  Sicilian dragon, Yugoslav attack springs to mind.  (To allow a kingside pawn storm).

I dont know of any standard Q-side castling for black, although it seems to often be recommended in the French defence.

Castling to the kingside is usually best but queenside castling often has the advantage of getting your rook immediately into play so you can get your king safe, and add a strong attacking piece all in one move.  Also there are times when you will just not want to go to the kingside because of the opposing pieces, or if your pawns there are messed up, or sometimes if black has a half open file in front of the kingside you might think twice before putting your king there. 

I usually delay castling and try to gain a spatial advantage. If my opponent tries to open things up then I'll castle.

There are some situations where a Q-side castle might be advantageous.  Recently, I played a game where my opponent where he castled queenside and had a discovered attack on my queen a move later.  It was neat, because one doesn't normally consider castling to be an aggressive move, and in this case, it was.  Other times, when your kingside pawn structure make it unwise to castle kingside, then queenside is a viable alternative.  But usually, I go kingside because if you go queenside, the a-pawn is weak and prone to attack.

q side castling if u have some time to look

sometimes its an advantage, but its up to the situation

technically, that example is incorrect. from all of the rule books i have read you may not castle when in check, or when CROSSING a line of check...

tekn0c4t wrote: technically, that example is incorrect. from all of the rule books i have read you may not castle when in check, or when CROSSING a line of check...

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 The King doesn't cross any lines of attack in the position given above.  The rook does, but, to my knowledge, there's no rule against that.

Indeed, that rule only applies to the king, the rook can be under attack.

I was taught that castling cannot be done when king, rooks or the lines between are under attack. This is so imprtant that I would very much appreciate knowing the correct rules concerning this..!  Please, anyone?

You are allowed to castle as long as your king is not moving out of, through, or into check.

As far as the topic goes it all depends on situation.  

From Wikipedia: 

Castling is permissible only if all of the following conditions hold:

1. The king must never have moved;
2. The chosen rook must never have moved;
3. There must be no pieces between the king and the chosen rook;
4. The king must not currently be in check.
5. The king must not pass through squares that are under attack by enemy pieces.
6. The king must not end up in check (true of any legal move).
7. The king and the chosen rook must be on the same rank.

It is a common mistake to think that the requirements for castling are even more stringent than the above. To clarify:

1. The king may have been in check previously, as long as it isn't in check at the time of castling.
2. The rook involved in castling may be under attack.
3. The rook involved in castling may move over an attacked square (a situation possible only with queenside castling).

Juggalo_Mike wrote:

You are allowed to castle as long as your king is not moving out of, through, or into check.

As far as the topic goes it all depends on situation.  

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Thank you!  And thanks to "teknOc4t" !   My worries are over--

I'm not sure why mxdplay4 mentioned queen side castling in the French defense. I play the French, and I don't think it's common in most of the main lines. In fact, when the center pawns get locked up, as they often do, with white pawns on d4 and e5 and black pawns on e6 and d5, I very often don't castle at all. The whole point of castling is to put the king in a safe spot behind pawns that the opponent can't break through. With that type of locked up center, nobody's attacking up the center of the board, so the king is usually safer right there in the center than castled on either side.

 

The one line of the French where black does sometimes castle queen side would be the exchange variation, but even then, it depends on the situation.

 

The one opening I know where black very often castles on the queen side is the Scandinavean.  

 

As for general reasons to castle queen side, they've pretty much been covered already. If the d pawns are gone, it's a good way to get your rook to the open d-file for attacking reasons. Also, castling on opposite sides usually leads to attacks on opposite sides, with each player attacking with a pawn march on the side of the board with the opponent's king, while leaving their pawns in front of their own king unmoved for defense. 

  

--Fromper 

fully legal castling, and the game was played on chess.com, some of members should read  more, and thank you tekn0c4t

Your chessplay is bad if you put such question. Castling is a part of a whole game strategy from the begining of the game. Heading to particular position you should know what advantages and disadvantages it has and act accordinly to it. So learn openings and early middlegame. In some structures you should not castle at all, for example, as Black in some Sicilian variants.

 P.S. I hope you understand me. My english is not superb I know.

Sometimes I like to castle away from the opponents strongest attack. If I see 'em going strong king side I'll try and castle queen side. Which is probably situational.