When should I castle in the najdorf

The najdorf is a variation of the sicilian and I have trouble telling when I should and shouldn't castle. I whatch grandmasters and internatonal masters play the najdorf and some games they castle and others they don't. It would make sense to not castle because of the english attack being played, but later on during the game, the king becomes a target onc the pieces are traded. So I am really lost on how to play najdorf, although I do know that there is a lot of theory involved, so should I still be palying it? Or just study up some more?

If you dont know when to castle, you should not be playing this opening.  Just because GM's, and IM's play it, doesnt mean you need to.

That's a huge part of learning. Based on your statement no one should ever play any opening because they're going to have questions about what to do.

Diakonia wrote:

If you dont know when to castle, you should not be playing this opening.  Just because GM's, and IM's play it, doesnt mean you need to.

I answered the question as asked.  If he doesnt know when to castle, he shouldnt be playing the opening. 

"so should I still be palying it?"  Of course not!  He needs to be studying it first.

Problems with knowing when to Najdorf castle is because it depends a lot on what the opponent is playing. If White's slow playing with 0-0, a relatively early ...0-0 probably won't hurt.

If White's more aggressive with Bg5, f4, 0-0-0 stuff then maybe ...0-0 should wait or even be ignored. Yeah, you've got a weakness with the King in the center but you can't have everything since a key with the Sicilian Najdorf is usually very active Black Qside play which may be enough of a counter with the White King over there after his 0-0-0.

Tempo and timing's pretty important in the Najdorf, so you'll probably see the effects of the wrong move at the wrong time frequently. But the more you study it and play it, the better chance you'll understand it better and better as time goes by.

I do not know... and I'm playing the Black side of the Najdorf all the time. This opening is too complex to fall into such rules.

Agreed.The Najdorf probably isn't the place for rules but it might not hurt someone getting a feel for the opening to keep some general tendencies in hand.

An interesting rules-light Najdorf example I went over awhile back might be:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1795068

The Najdorf has several variations where black castles rather quick and others delays castling. There is no general rule and if we want to make one, we can say that as the tense remain positional with all pieces on the board black avoid to give his king final destination in order to force some exchanges first or some critical maneuver so white can not achieve consolidation and king side pressure through positional approach.

This behavior appears often in the 6.Bg5 variation followed by f4,Qf3,g4 e.t.c where white plays aggressively. There are some lines in the Fischer attack 6.Bc4 when white rain force the attack immediately with the aggressive Bg5 black also delays castling. In the Addams attack 6.h3 black delays castling until the white's king side expansion is under some control.

The 6.Be2 ,6.Bd3 or 6.f3 are more quiet systems and black castles king side in normal conditions.

The 6.Be3 it's a different game with 6...Ng4 or not and castles remains ?!

From what I have learnt, you may castle when:
1. When it is necessary...This may include opening up of positions, attack on the f7/f2 square,etc.
2. When you have nothing else to do...In some calm openings, where neither side has any apparent weakness, castling is not a bad move because it contributes to completion of development by letting the rooks see each other.

However, it is as important to NOT castle when you need not; instead you could look for a good/best move to improve your position...This generally happens when you have the initiative, i.e., when you drive the game. Sometimes, castling can also help you build pressure against your opponent's pieces. For example, when you castle queenside leaving your opponent's King in check. In such positions, castling is a good idea but may not be the best.
   So, what happens when you castle instead of building pressure against the opponent's pieces? If that happens, your opponent may find enough time to bring his/her piece(s) to safety and you may longer have the initiative.
   You will learn more about castling as you pave your way into chess. When it comes to the Sicilian Najdorf, there are many variations and a lot of theory behind every move. I can say, by looking at your rating, that you are probably an amateur like me. I suggest that you go by the book for openings. In most cases, you will find the right move for castling in the opening lines(you can find them in the Book openings section). If you don't find it, you have to go with your gut.

Hope this helped. Good luck with chess :D 

I've been asking myself the opposite question: "When should I not castle in the Najdorf?" I'm not an authority by any means, but here are my hypotheses based on the games I've played:

1. For obvious reasons: i.e., when there's some tactic that will work if you castle, or if the queens come off and you want your king closer to the center for the endgame, etc.

2. If white castles kingside and you have the chance to open the g-file or play g5 to generate an attack. Sometimes I see people castling kingside in these situations anyway, but the king often seems better placed on e7 with pawns on f7, f6, and e6.

3. If white has castled queenside and there is a strong kingside pawn storm. Often it's better to not castle into a pawn storm, especially if it's backed by rooks.

4. If you already have a strong queenside attack going. The Najdorf is all about counterattacking, and if you happen to catch white on the back foot, it's better to just keep applying pressure and let white land a couple blows in exchange for your own attack down the c-file. It's a risk to neglect castling and sometimes it doesn't pay off, but sharp openings are all about taking risks.

5. Seirawan's Play Winning Chess talks about different quantities that are traded in chess. You're effectively trading king safety for some other quantity when you go without castling. You need to make sure you know what that other quantity is and if it's a worthy trade. Often, I find I'm trading king safety for tempi, which I then try to convert into an attack. As long as you clarify to yourself what kind of trade you're making at the time you make it, then you can look back on it after the game and decide if it was worth it or not, then learn from that and hopefully make better trades with your king safety in the future.

Sicilian games can be very complex. If you do not fully understand the Najdorf, you are better off playing something simpler.

Not necessarily.

It depends on your priorities. If you just want to beat players of your own strength, and gradually improve your rating to some degree... then yes, play an opening that you understand.

If you want to learn how to handle positions that are both tactically and strategically complex, and if you don't mind losing a few hundred games and watching your rating drop into the toilet... then playing the Najdorf actually makes a lot of sense.

I started playing it regularly when I was around 1400 strength. And I lost a lot of games. I also won a lot of games. Now I'm a bit stronger than that. Was some portion of my improvement due to my choice of opening? Hard to say.

Hello guys, if you are interested in learning everything about the Najdorf i will be uploading a serie of 6 videos (introduction, typical endgames, typical sacrifices, typical structures, theory and model games) in my Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaP33llsxmWoKfBP8Na_h6A i already uploaded the 1st one! Go check it and suscribe