It depends on the situation. In that situation, i would definitely say no, since black can use the following line so that it will almost be as if he castled, while still developing his pieces:
1.... Kxf7
2.... Nf6
3.... Re8
4.... Kg8
If, on the other hand, you have an attack going, and wish to keep the king in the center, then fire away.
usually you have to have a heavy attack already prepared but it may require a slightly open king, but if you don't have one prepared, it will be tough attacking the king with less material to work with. Attacking is really hard too until you get to about 1500 or 1600.
This position is a bad example because if black DOESN'T play Kxf7 he loses at least a rook. Anyone would play Kxf7 there.
Generally in open games I consider forcing Kxf7 (or Kxf2) worth about 1-1.5 pawns. Of course it depends on the rest of the position.
i weighed this exact type of thing..and experimented with it for a long time now. It seems the 'experts' are right..it isn't worth it
A few people said that this position is a bad example. I do realize that, and while I agree, that isn't that point. The point is: What is the worth? What would you give up in a given situation to prevent the king from castling. That's all I wanna know. I know a lot of it depends on position, but if you were to assign a point value to the prevention of castling equal to that of another piece, what would it be?
Yes, in this situation because white wins material via 1. Nxf7!-Kxf7 2. exf5
Maybe a pawn or probably less for castling prevention, but that isn't what exposing the enemy king is about. It's about sacrifice of material for prospects of attack (usually on the king). Since the possibility of exposing the king doesn't happen in a vacuum the original question doesn't have much practical relevance. Theoretical maybe but not much practical.
nocornincornok> I know a lot of it depends on position, but if you were to assign a point value to the prevention of castling...
In the material handicaps charts, "no castling rights" is a 200 point handicap, exactly the same as beginning down a pawn.
I think it is 95% based on position. After all, you are trying to prevent your opponent from gain a certain position, castling, therefore it almost completely depends on the position itself. I do not think it is fair to make a blanket statement on what it is worth to prevent castling. For example, there are positions where is may be worth a queen, or more. Other times it may not be worth anything. In my opinion, it is impossible to make a statement on how much it is worth.
There is no discrete "value" in preventing your opponent from castling. There are positions where it will have no value at all. Everything must be understood in the context of other factors.
There are only three results possible in a chess game (win,lose,draw), so unless the result can (or is more likely to) change from one of those to another, the effect is negligible.
I have always wondered...how much is it worth to prevent the opposing player from castling? is it worth a knight? a bishop? two pawns? I have often sacrificed a knight to prevent an opponent from castling, but I never quite figured out if it was worth it. (I think I have won most of those games, although they were mostly against weaker players.) in the below diagram would you sacrifice your knight to keep your opponent from castling?
there may be better moves I just threw this together really fast.