Kingside castling and Queenside castling, which would you prefer?

Kingside castling and Queenside castling, which would you prefer?

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First of all, greeting to all the people who read this. Thank you all of you for support.

As you know, we can casting in two side - queenside (O-O-O) and kingside (O-O) castling. So, why kingside castling is more popular than queenside castling? I will listed some reasons for you.

First, let's talk about kingside castling. O-O let the king to g1 and rook to f1, let the king into the corner of the board. This not only let the king in the safe play, but also make the rook easier and faster to develop.

Second, you can play the king indian attack or King fianchetto, so the fianchettoed bishop in g2 can both protect the king and control the long diagonal a8-h1(a1-h8 for black), ready for the big battle. Moreover, The bishop can also defense h3 and f1(h6 and f8 for black), don't let the back rank mate happen and don't let the opponent bishop reach to h3(h6 for black) - very dangerous bishop that can trap the king if another bishop in the a7-g1 diagonal(a2-g8 diagonal for black), like in bishop opening or Italian game.

Although it's pros, it also has some cons. Last, I will show you some examples of cases that you shouldn't  kingside castling.


So, what about the queenside castling? 

Queenside castling is not as popular as kingside castling, but it sometime be used by player, to fastly develop the rook to d-file, with the help of the queen so the centre will be easier to control, or just because kingside bishop and knight haven't been developed yet.

In the other hand, queenside castling also has lots of disadvantages. We can't negate the quick-develop the queenside rook to the centre - very strong when you are attacking, but this also be riskier than the kingside castling, and if you are not carefull, the opponent can quickly counterattack. Here are some example.



It have its advanges, too. There are not much opening support queenside castling, you often use this to make some trick with the support of the rook in d1, quickly control the d-file and also help to attack the king in the open game. Here are some games that use queenside castling to take control the game and support for attacking the king in the early game.

Both castling have it pros and cons. What about you? Which would you prefer?