pattrik: 'So it's the same for the queenside, right? If the king is on d1 then the rook has to be on a1, b1 or c1???'
If you be a little more precise -- 'If the king is on d1 then *one* rook has to be on a1, b1 or c1' -- then yes, that's right. The other Rook has to be on e1, f1, g1, or h1.
rooperi: 'I think if you have (eg) Rooks on h and g files, and the king anywhere from a-f, you can castle Q-side with the g Rook. If you have Rooks on a and b files, and the King anywhere, you can castle K-side with the b Rook.'
No, you can't have Rooks on h- & g-files or on a- & b-files. The King must start between the Rooks.
pompom: 'No, I meant like kramakintewis said. "If that bothers you, just think of it as having the King Bishops on the Queenside, same for the Knights and Rooks." So that means the rook on a1 is actually the rook on h1. And the rook on h1 is actually the rook on a1. If it was that way, you castle O-O with the a1 rook and you castle O-O-O with the rook on h1.'
Sorry, but I don't understand what you are trying to say. You can never castle O-O with a Rook on a1 (or on b1!). Similarly, you can never castle O-O-O with a Rook on h1 (or on g1).
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As far as castling is concerned, the most extreme setups are RKR***** and *****RKR. In the first case, castling O-O can only be done with the Rook on c1. In the second case, castling O-O-O can only be done with the Rook on f1.
Engrave this rule on the part of your brain that you use for chess960: 'The King must start between the Rooks.' This is fundamental to chess960. It is this rule plus the castling rules that make chess960 so similar to the traditional chess (RNBQKBNR) that we all know and love. - Mark
Chess960 Starting Position ID
I think there's a little confusion here; the King will never be in a corner and the Rooks will always be flanking (one on either side) the King. Thus even if the King is on b1, the King can still castle Kingside as long as the rules for castling is followed (King and Rook have not moved from starting position, King not in check, etc...). The castled position is that of the normal game with the King ending up on the g1 square and the Rook on f1. This can be applied to the Queenside castling possibilities, with the King on c1 and Rook on d1 after the castling move.
No, I mean like this:
I found this chess 960 positions link yesterday. A nice simple html file which you can open and then do a Ctrl+F to search on the white piece string.
So position #518 is the standard starting position? I didn't know that was one of the 960 starting positions.
Yes, it is. If you exclude it, than the starting position isn't truly random, as the standard position does fall within the rules of 960.
If that bothers you, just think of it as having the King Bishops on the Queenside, same for the Knights and Rooks
So, you would swicth the two rooks around so the rook on h1 is actually the rook of a1 and the rook on a1 is actually the rook on h1.
'And in order to castle kingside, you would have to move the king on e1 to g1 and the rook on a1 to f1.'
A Rook on a1 can never be used for Kingside castling (aka h-side castling, O-O). If the King starts on e1, there must be a Rook on f1, g1, or h1, and only that Rook can be used for castling O-O. - Mark
No, I meant like kramakintewis said.
"If that bothers you, just think of it as having the King Bishops on the Queenside, same for the Knights and Rooks
"
So that means the rook on a1 is actually the rook on h1. And the rook on h1 is actually the rook on a1. If it was that way, you castle O-O with the a1 rook and you castle O-O-O with the rook on h1.
That would be a weird way to castle
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