castling

can castling really help you win a game or is it just a pointless move.

If you think it's pointless, by all means don't do it. But most chess players would probably disagree with you.

Castling can help you win the game.  It gets your king out of the middle of the board, which is usually a good idea, since that's where most of the fighting takes place, and it gets one of your rooks into the game.  The rooks usually can't do much from their corners.  Castling allows the rook some freedom and the chance to take control of files as they open up.

Here are the rules, just so you can be sure about it.

Rule 1: All the pieces between the king and the rook must be moved out from between them.

Rule 2: Neither the king or the rook can have moved prior to the castle.

Rule 3: The king cannot be in check when trying to castle; in other words, you can't castle out of check.

Rule 4: The king may not pass through check or castle into check.  If any of the squares between the king and rook that the king must move across are attacked by an enemy piece, you cannot castle, as the king would be going through check from that attacking piece.

Now a couple notes:

Note 1: You CAN castle if the ROOK is attacked.  If there is an attacker on the rook you can castle, just so long as the king is not attacked or can be attacked during the castle.  I thought you couldn't castle if the rook was attacked, but you can.

Note 2: If a square between the rook and king is attacked, but the king DOES NOT land on it or go across it, you can castle.  This only works for the queenside though.  The b1 square can be under attack from an enemy piece and you can still castle as the king does not land on or go across that square; the king goes from e1 to c1 and the rook swings over to d1, so you do not lose your rook either with this.

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If anyone knows of some things about castling I might have missed or if I have said anything incorrect, please clarify.  Thank you!

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There you go marcoccia.  I hope that helps.

Castling is the only move whereby you get to move two pieces at once. The King moves to safety and the Rook is developed near the centre, you would be a fool to miss out on this 2-for-1 deal.

a good way of explaining it! for beginners its best to castle 99% of the time! As you get better and more experienced you will find times where its best to not castle but these are rare

i think i remember Kasparov doing it once, it must be good! cant find a link to the game though sorry.

It's not pointless.  The key to successfull castling is to get the timing of it right. 

ok thanx guys

Castling (in most cases) improves the position of two of your pieces instead of just one.

How many times have I seen that puzzle now on the forums?

There we go