Opposite Side Castling - Principles of Chess Middle Games

“It's an entire world of just 64 squares. I feel safe in it. I can control it; I can dominate it. And it's predictable. So, if I get hurt, I only have myself to blame.”
- Walter Tevis, The Queen's Gambit

Hi, chessbros. In the series of Principles of the middle game, We have completed two concepts they are, 

-Weak Square & Outpost. ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/weak-square-outpost-principles-of-chess-middle-games)

-Blockade & Restriction. ( https://www.chess.com/blog/siddharth026/blockade-restriction-principles-of-chess-middle-games)

Today we will see one of the most aggressive and renowned concepts, Which is the Opposite side castling.

If you have been in chess for a decent amount. You will be aware of IM Levy Rozman, also known as GothamChess. In his recaps videos, he is seen saying," Now that they have castled opposite sides we are sure someone is going to win or lose." 

Well, how does he say it with so much confirmation? The fact is that he knows about these concepts. Here someone's attack is going to reach earlier than others. One who knocks first is for sure taking the win in most cases in GM-level matches.

Opposite-side castling generally refers to a situation when both sides bring their king to safety but on the opposite side of the board. Here opposite means diagonally opposite side.

Generally, this indicates both parties don't want a drawish game where pieces will be traded for a known drawing endgame.
Now this generally doesn't follow any step or rule of how to build an attack after casting. This is more of an intuition and experience part. My role here is to show you multiple games and analyse some of them for better understanding.

 Matches 

First game-
This game is played between the most aggressive players,

Viswanathan Anand vs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov ( Tal Memorial)  (Blitz) (2018)

Here in position, I know most of us will think now we have castled so I might create a quick attack by h4 push. But remember, We are considering GM level game. So we have to look all over the board. h4 is not a bad move, but the opponent 'a' pawn push is much faster. So we have to play on the Queen's side for a while. 
Anand pushes c4. Re8, centralizing the rook. Bf3 attacks the weak pawn Rf8 defends the weak pawn. c5 questions the structure. Shak has to decide about the pawn movements. d5 locking structure. Now is the right moment for h4, and Anand plays it. 

Here, As you notice, Anand did not rush with h4. He restricted some of the opponent's mobility on his side of the attack. So when he creates an attack, there will be less threat for him.
Shak here plays b6 attacking the pawn, but vishy will not take it since the pawn on c5 creates more restriction. So he plays Re1 centralizing the rook. Now next few moves are simple since Anand is trying to trade and reduce opponent pieces from attack. 

The purpose of the match is to show you how aggressive the game gets when opposite-side castling takes place. Also, it is critical to restrict your opponent before going for any attack. Anand has set here a perfect example of how to play for attack first by restricting, Then by closing the centre and then trading to reduce opponents' attack.

Second  Game -

In the first example, Vishy set a standard of, How to play the opposite side of castling, but now we will see a study that is the opposite of what we saw in the first match.
This is the kind of Game where someone tries to create a winning chance, and it doesn't work out.

This match is played between,

Hans Bohm vs Ludek Pachman. Lone Pine (1979)

My first impression here was this looked like a position that arose from the queen's pawn opening. In the queen's pawn opening, you don't castle queenside since your c phile is semi-open or will be open. It's very risky, and we need to be careful, but here our player tried to create a chance. Let us see what happens.

Ludek takes the bishop back since he wants the position to be open and preserve the bishop for the long term. Be7, is played. c5 is trying to lock the centre. b6 immediately trying to open the structure.Bb5 attacks the knight and Bb7 defends the knight. Qa4 adds another piece to attack. Ne4 is played, creating an attack and attacking h4 twice. Bxe7-Nxe7 trades the bishop for a knight. c6 attacks the bishop Nxc3 trying to open the king bxc is played. Bc8 protects the bishop. Ne5 creates an outpost. a6 attacks the bishop. g4 is the flashy move, taking king-side space bishop cannot be taken since the pawn is pinned to Rook. f6 removes the knight from the outpost. Ned3 is played saving Knight. Qc7, trying to protect the pieces. Nb4 adds the attacker on the queen's side. Ra7, is played now. Bishop Back to e2 is played since there is no concrete plan for the bishop there. b5 and Qc2 are played attacking and defending queen.Nxc6 and Nd3 are played. e5 breaks the structure Nc5 trying to create an outpost again. exd and cxd is played.Qf4 check is played Qd2 offers the trade of queen but black plays Nxd4 winning the game on the spot.

Here position almost is visibly seen falling for white on each and every move. If you analyse this game you will see that Black was winning in every move after castling.

Now there are many games. I will show you this last game and then give you a list of matches so that you can see and understand them more clearly.

List-

• Nimzowitsch vs Alekhine, 1926 

(B02) Alekhine's Defense, 53 moves, 1/2-1/2

• Alapin vs Harmonist, 1887 

(C44) King's Pawn Game, 23 moves, 1-0

• R Grau vs Nimzowitsch, 1930 

(C01) French, Exchange, 26 moves, 0-1

• Nimzowitsch vs A Pritzel, 1922 

(B06) Robatsch, 29 moves, 1-0

• Yermolinsky vs Blatny, 1996

(D43) Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, 29 moves, 1-0

I hope you love this short content on the opposite side castling. I am really sorry, friends. If this was some theory like two rooks endgame or two bishop endgame. I would have given you a step-by-step procedure on, how to attempt the position? as you have seen in the first two parts of The Principles of Chess Middle Games. This study is more of observation and personal experience. 
Well, with this, we end today's discussion on the topic of opposite-side castling. Do share some of your best games pgn in the comment below.
Till then,
Let's all grow at chess together.

...The End...