Here are some interesting thoughts from Grandmaster William Lombardy. Younger players may not know him, but he was a very strong grandmaster in the late 50's and 60's. He led the U.S.Students team to a win over the Soviets, back when that was a big deal. Top board for the USSR was Boris Spassky! Anyhow, here are his thoughts

... So, my new advice on castling: it is castling is to be considered a waste of time wrongly expended when there is almost always something more important to achieve. Thus castling is a passive move that nurtures the hope of king safety. I believe that a player who learns how and when to delay castling will certainly improve his/her play. Very often that cherished hope of safety is ill founded. I therefore believe that the maneuver of castling is the most dangerous of all moves and the decision thus requires more attention to delicate judgment.

 

Not only should one not rush to castle, but should delay that passive maneuver for as long as good judgment relates that there are more urgent, if only slightly better, tasks to accomplish.’

It depends on the position. If the opponent is attacking on the kingside, I'll go queenside. Or is my queenside pawns are weak, and can't protect my King, I'll go Kingside. Or even stay in the centre if thats the safest place.

Opposite side castling makes sense if you want to play for a win at any price. As your opponent usually castles on the king-side you have to go for queen-side castling in that case.

For example if you play white against the Sicilian Najdorf or black in the French Exchange variation opposite side castling is a good way to prevent a drawish game. Usually a pawn race starts and the game gets very sharp.

But in general I did´t make good experience with queenside castling.

If you look at that diagram you see that there are three weak points that can be attacked around the black king (a7,b7,c7). But there are only two weak points in the white position (g2,h2). Therefore the queenside castling position is more vulnerable.

Here's a thought - and possibly a new thread - do you play from left to right or from right to left.  Castling kingside - you're playing l to r; castle queenside you're playing r to l.  I usually castle k-side.....usually.  On the rare occassion I go q-side or, in some cases, not at all, it most definitely is due to the nature of the game in progress at the time - not due to some self-proscribed ritual. 

 You should castle kingside in the xd8 opening, attack their weakened queenside.

In the games I have encountered, it was economical for me to castle kingside in open games and queenside castle in some flank openings and semi-open openings.

Lol.

Then he must be a sissy.

It also depends heavily on the distribution of the pieces as well the the remaining pawn structures. I generally castle towards the side that is the least under attack with the most closed pawn structure.

That would guarentee my king's safety.

Depends on the position, but i would rather castle king side.

At least he was confused when making those statements.

Sometimes left sometimes right

I like it when the enemy (let's be real...not an "opponent") attacks me on one side and then I castle on the opposite side.

You have an unhealthy obsession over Andy, Lady.

FYI, Andy isn't the type who can take compliments very well. He tend to interpret things through his own hyperbolic lens. The last time someone complimented him, we had to call his mother to put order back into this universe.

I fully agree with ghillian and paulgottleib on the 1st page, it is silly to answer without a specific position.  Chess is a game of concrete ideas, each position is as unique as a snowflake - how many positions would a combination be possible or be defended against with the change of square of a single pawn or piece?  When any minute difference can change the outcome completely, no general rule can be said to apply.

Having said that, I would modify Father Lombardy (who was also the first US World Junior Champ) to advise players not to seek to delay castling, but also not to rush to castle.  In some cases, and rather frequently in closed positions, it just isn't clear how the game is going to develop, even to who will have a spatial or attacking advantage on which side, so castling too early - on either side - can commit your King too soon and end up hurting your game.

Also remember that Father Bill recommended looking for what else you might do before reflexively castling, which is a very good idea.  But if you can't find a good plan or an opponent's threat to defend, castling isn't such a bad idea as a waiting move, either.

You have my vote as well, Estragon. I've seen (and been the victim of) castling right into checkmate.  Just because it's move 10 (well, time to castle) doesn't make much sense at all.