Castling

I've been playing chess for sometime now but i'm still a novice.

One of the problems i encounter very often in a game is that when i castle either left or right i feel so vulnerable at the kings side and that's why sometimes i rather wait till the game is progress with many moves made and then castle ( most of the openings listed include castling early in the game).What would be the best possible defense for such a position. Also for how long should i keep my 3 pawns in front of my king after castling for sometimes my  opponents pawns very often keep advancing and i really don't know whether as to keep them in that position (of which i've notice most experienced players do) or to move them ahead in a defensive move ahead and leaving my king vulnerable to diagonal bishop attacks.

i think that the time to castle is within the players (gut feeling)

castle when you feel it is right,I use the castle as a early defence but alway give myself a escape route buy moving one of my pawns forward.

I hope this helps

I castle when I feel that my opponent is capable of launching a dangerous attack at my center, or when he is capable of doing a move that will prevent my castling (check forcing the king to move).

Once you're behind the pawns, you should move them as soon as it becomes necessary- which is, when not moving them results in a mating attack or material loss. If you don't want to move them, use your other pieces to defend your king's position from attacks.

You should always castle, the fast as possible, thats the most safe, and dont move the pawns in front of your castled king before the endgame if possible, it just make your defence weeker.

Hi,

Provided that you should castle as soon as possible, as Simon says, there are some openings where the main strategy is exactly to pawn-storm the flank where you've castled.

Let me give you a typical example: it is well-known that Black shouldn't rush to castle in the Sicilian opening, where one of the main White's plans are f4, g4-g5, and even h4-h5 and so on.

So as a general rule YES, you must castle as soon as possible. Anyway always watch out for this kind of subtle play where your rival is just doing waiting moves, just waiting for you to castle to castle himself on the opposite side and launch a pawns attack.

Just a quick final note, another rule of thumb: when you're being attacked on a flank, do NOT move the pawns on that flank, because that way you're just weakening that flank, and making your opponent's task easier.

Take care and good luck.

castle early and often.

"Castling cannot be bad but its timing can."   -a Russian saying. 

how do I castle on this site when I'm in a game???

thanx

Castle when you have no better move to play.

Chernev In "Logical Chess" discusses the kingside pawns and the kings vulnerability. You could do a lot worse than look at this. But every chess position is exceptional and defies the generalisations we bring to it.

        I am no expert, but for what it is worth, I think it is too simplistic to say castle as soon as possible. One sees examples all the time of players, including me, castling prematurely and straight into difficulties.