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tactical_abyss 12-May-13, 09:29 |
 Deleted by tactical_abyss on 12-May-13, 10:05.
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tactical_abyss 12-May-13, 10:05 |
Castling,Queen side or King side? Castling is an important goal in the Chess opening, because it serves two valuable purposes: it moves the king into a safer position away from the center of the board, and it moves the rook to a more active position in the center of the board (it is even possible to checkmate with castling). The choice as to which side to castle often hinges on an assessment of the trade-off between king safety and activity of the rook. Kingside castling is generally slightly safer, because the king ends up closer to the edge of the board and all the pawns on the castled side are defended by the king. In queenside castling, the king is placed closer to the center and the pawn on the a-file is undefended; the king is thus often moved to the b-file to defend the a-pawn and to move the king away from the center of the board. In addition, queenside castling requires moving the queen; therefore, it may take slightly longer to achieve than kingside castling. On the other hand, queenside castling places the rook more effectively – on the central d-file. It is often immediately active, whereas with kingside castling a tempo may be required to move the rook to a more effective square. It is common for both players to castle kingside, and rare for both players to castle queenside. If one player castles kingside and the other queenside, it is called opposite castling. Castling on opposite sides usually results in a fierce fight as both players' pawns are free to advance to attack the opposing king's castled position without exposing the player's own castled king. An example is the Yugoslav attack, in the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defence. If the king is forced to move before it has the opportunity to castle, the player may still wish to maneuver the king towards the edge of the board and the corresponding rook towards the center. When a player takes three or four moves to accomplish what castling would have accomplished in one move, it is sometimes called artificial castling, or castling by hand. Here are some additional facts: 1.In most cases(but not all),its best to castle in 10 moves or less from your 1st move,if possible. 2.You generally want to castle on the side which will put your Rook on a more active square and make your King safer. 3.Castling on the same side of your opponent will often lead to a positional type of game,while castling on opposite sides will many times result in more tactical type of games. 4.Castling on the Queen side will many times lead to "pawn storming"attacks on the Kings,so be prepared for this and defend accordingly. 5.Again,castling over an "open file"is not always wise and you may want to castle on the opposite side or delay castling until the file becomes closed again.An open file will be a danger to your King with opposing forces being able to bear down pressure on that file with their Rook,Queen or combination of pieces. Take this example below: Can you see why it is not advisable to castle on whites Queen side? Answer:Not advisable due to the "open c file",which can more easily make whites King more susceptible to attack.It would be better to castle on whites King side,when available. More on castling in time.But hope this helps a bit for now,especially with some of our plyers still learning a bit.Comments are welcome as any other thoughts. |
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tactical_abyss 12-May-13, 15:25 |
Well,as mentioned above in my post,its nice to be able to castle in 10 moves or less,but then only with proper development and better King safety which was not present in blacks game above.So yes,in a case like that link above,perhaps delaying castling until a better defense is initiated or perhaps a Queen side Castle would have been better in this game. But its important to note what I said above in #4."Castling on the Queen side will lead many times to pawn storming attacks....".So,jkarp,do you see what white did to you after jstevens1 castled on her Queen side???Looks like a bit of creepy crawly pawn storming to me,even on the "mini size"! |
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@tactical-abyss |
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tactical_abyss 19-May-13, 09:53 |
Jkarp, There are some games,indeed where castling is NOT necessary.It may depend upon the type of game or how your opponent is playing out of book in the first 15 moves or so.Now,do not let this statement confuse.Castling on one side or the other is usually and ideally suggested to move the King away from the bottom center of the board to and to unblock a Rook and make it more active,which gives it more of a "point value"due to being more usable to attack and/or defend. It really boils down to a game to game basis.It is true,that castling can indeed give you more problems,especially if you delayed your castling too long and then decide later in the game to castle while under attack. Here is some stats about castling that you may find useful in your decision making: 1.White castles Kingside 80.2% of the time 2." " Queenside 8.8% of the time 3.White dosen't castle at all...11% of the time. 4.White castles Queenside about 2x as much as black. 5.Castling Kingside gives a higher statistic of draws 6.Castling on the Kingside and then Queenside on the opposing opponent side,usually results in much more aggressive play,rather than a quiet slow buildup defense game. 7.Usually castling is NOT necessary with games that produce early Queen exchanges in the opening. Other general rules of thumb: "If the center is open, or appears to be ready to open (for instance, if central pawns look likely to be exchanged), it's probably time to get your king out of there. A king sitting on an open central file is often as good as checkmated. Conversely, if the center is closed, at least consider leaving the king there and not castling at all. This is especially true if there is action on both wings. In a relatively quiet position, where no tactics are present, it's often a good idea to play developing moves if you haven't developed your pieces yet. You may not realize it, but castling is one such developing move! It "develops" your king to a safer position, while also moving a rook to a more central file, where it can more easily become an active part of the game". "The majority of the time, if you aren't certain which side of the board to castle on, the correct answer is the kingside. It's quicker to castle here (since the queen must move in order for you to castle queenside), and in most openings, it's usually safer. Black is especially likely to favor kingside castling over queenside, as White will have the early initiative more often than not. Of course, if your kingside pawn structure has already been compromised, castling queenside may prove to be your best bet. In addition, castling queenside can often lead to powerful attacks. Games in which one side castles queenside while the other castles kingside can prove to be some of the most exciting battles of all, as both sides can storm the opponent's castled king with pawns. Usually, this creates a race situation where the first side to break through the other king's defenses wins, and sacrifices abound! If you've reached the endgame, and/or the queens are no longer on the board, don't assume you have to castle just because you can. Because checkmates are unlikely, it's very possible that your king is better served by moving towards the action, rather than running." |
