When can you no longer castle in chess?

Chess isn’t as complicated to learn as many people believe that it is. However, there are a small handful of “special moves” that can be a bit confusing for the new player and one of those moves is castling. Many newer players find it hard to track when they can castle and when they can’t..

For many players one of their earliest tactical objectives is to open up their position enough that they can move the king to safety through castling and it’s important to understand how this critical process in chess really works. You can only castle once during a game, and it’s the only time that the king can move more than 1 square at a time.

Here’s are some handy guidelines about the rules of castling in chess.

The Four Key Rules For Castling In Chess

Castling is a move that allows you to move both the king and one of your rooks at the same time in a game. It requires you to move the king towards the rook, 2 spaces rather than the usual single space and then to move the rook around the king to the square adjacent to the king on the opposite side of where the rook started.

Castling is dictated by four key rules in chess and these are:

• Neither the king nor the rook may have moved from their starting position at any time in the game prior to castling.
• There must be no pieces in between the rook and the king of any color.
• The king must not be in check.
• None of the squares that the king passes through, including the starting and finishing square, may be under attack by any of the opponent’s pieces during the time of castling.

Castling is not a traditional chess move. It appears to have been injected into the game in Europe during either the 14th or 15th century A.D. Asian variants of chess, which evolved prior to this, don’t have a form of castling. It wasn’t until the 17th century that European chess had codified the rules of castling as above and there are forms of castling in old games that were different to this.

The Tournament Rule Of Castling

One thing that you should be aware of is that castling is considered to be a king move. That means if you are playing a game under strict “touch a piece, move a piece” rules, if you want to castle, you must touch the king first and move it first.

Note, however, that most official tournament rules are much more forgiving than this and if you were to touch the rook first, you would still be allowed to complete the move. It’s good practice to touch the king first in any case.

There is also a rule that requires you to complete the entire move only using the same hand to touch each piece. This is only ever enforced in competitive chess (and rarely even there) most players don’t even know that this rule exists if they don’t play in competitions.

How Many Times Can You Castle In Chess?

The first rule of castling is “neither the king nor the rook may have moved from their starting position at any time in the game prior to castling.”

So, how many times can you castle in chess? You can only castle one time in a game. This is because the act of castling moves both the king and the rook and if the king has moved, it may not castle.

Can You Castle Anytime In Chess?

Yes, you can castle any time in chess. Though you must still satisfy all four key rules of castling which means, for example, that you could not castle on the first move of the game because there would be material between the king and the rook on either side of the board.

Can You Castle On Both Sides?

Yes, you can castle on both sides but since you can castle only once in a game, you must choose a side to castle on for that one game. It is worth noting that the king travels no farther when castling to the queen’s side than when castling to his own side. Thus, castling to the queen’s side can leave the king slightly more vulnerable to attack.

The notation for castling is the same in both the algebraic form of notation (which is the grid reference style of notation that you will find in common usage on this website) and in the descriptive notation (which describes moves in relation to the original piece on the first row and which is considered somewhat archaic now).

If you castle to the king’s side, then you would put 0-0 on your score sheet. If you castle to the queen’s side, then you would write 0-0-0. This is because neither notation system can neatly document the movement of two pieces in a single move and given that it only happens once per game – it’s easier to accommodate with a different notation than to change the rest of the system.

Queen’s side castling is sometimes referred to as “castling long” because the rook moves a longer distance and yes, king’s side castling can be called “castling short” too.

Can You Castle Out Of Check?

No. You can not castle out of check. One of our four key rules of castling is, “none of the squares that the king passes through, including the starting and finishing square, may be under attack by any of the opponent’s pieces during the time of castling.”

In this case, the starting square would be under attack by the opponent’s piece and thus, you can’t castle out of check and nor can you castle “through” check or “into” check.

Can You Castle If The Rook Is Under Attack?

Can you castle if the rook is under attack? Yes, you can. There is no rule that states your rock cannot be under threat when you initiate castling. However, it’s worth noting that if the rook is under attack, you might want to be careful about moving your king closer to a threat. In general, most people castle to protect the king rather than to throw it into the opponent’s firing line.

Can You Castle After Being In Check?

Yes, you can castle after being in check. However, it is important to note that this is only true as long as you have not moved the king or the rook to get out of check. There are no rules of castling that specify the king can’t have been in check but there is one forbidding the pieces involved to have moved (and no,  you can’t move them back to the starting square and then pretend that they never moved).

Can You Castle Back In Chess?

You can’t castle back in chess. Castling is a one-time and one-way special move in chess. It’s meant to keep the game interesting and ensure that the first time your king falls under attack that it has somewhere to run. It’s not meant to see your king shuttling back and forth like a yo-yo which would make it very difficult (if not, perhaps, impossible) to reach a checkmate.

This means that a good player will use their chance to castle wisely – ideally, it will help to defend the king, moving it away from the opponent’s main line of attack and, at the same time, it will help to open up the offensive power of the player’s rook which can be a very powerful piece.

Conclusion

Castling is a “special move” that falls outside of the standard moves of a piece and by definition, given that you cannot castle after moving either the king or the rook involved in the move, you cannot castle more than once as doing so involves moving the king.

You can, however, castle at any time in a chess match as long as you have the space to do so and are not castling through check and haven’t moved either piece beforehand. You can cast on both sides and yes, you can castle if the rook is under attack. You may also castle if your king has been in check, but you may not castle out of check or through it. Finally, castling is a one-way deal – you can’t castle back if you don’t like what you find.

King-side castling – where the White king goes two spaces to his right, and on the other side of the board the Black king can go two spaces to his left. See this diagram with the kings moving along the red line and the rooks along the green line:

Queen-side castling – similar in that the king moves two spaces but this time the White king goes left and the Black king goes right. See here:

In both cases, the rook jumps over the king and settles next to him. One thing to remember is that if you want to castle you need to pick up the king first – not the rook. This is very important!

The final positions should look like this if White castled queen-side and Black castled king-side:

But in short, if someone asks you how to castle in chess just say it is when the king moves two spaces to his left or to his right and the rook jumps over him and ends up on the other side.

However, as always there are a number of conditions that must be met to make it a legal move or it won’t be allowed and your opponent will say “hang on a minute!” But we will get onto the nitty-gritty a bit later on and answer a few questions first.

Why castle in chess?

Castling is primarily all about getting your king safe because, usually, the move takes your most important piece out of the center of the board and tucks him away behind a wall of pawns.

Games are won and lost by players deciding if and when a player to castle. In fact, when it comes to beginners a very high proportion of games are lost simply because a novice player doesn’t get their king protected. So it pays to castle.

But beware, the timing is crucial – sometimes castling may actually put your king in danger. So, as with everything in chess, be careful.

It is for this reason that while beginners are often taught to castle as soon as they can, you often see experts put off castling until much further into the games.

Let me repeat the point: timing is crucial.

What does castling achieve in chess?

Castling does two things: 1. it creates a safe haven for your king (or should, if you do play it at the right time) and, 2. it develops your rook, bringing it out nearer to the center of the board where it can get into the game.

Castling, therefore, is a very nifty maneuver. But like every move in chess, you have to judge when the right time to play it is.

Here’s a good example of a classic game where castling at the right time was crucial. Scroll through it and see how powerful White’s castling proved:

A quick puzzle – what happens if Black castles here?

This puzzle is taken from GM Susan Polgar’s Learn Chess The Right Way series for beginners.

It is Black to move:

In order to be allowed to castle, neither the king nor the rook (on a8) could have moved at any time earlier in the game.

This rarely happens in a regular game as it is generally advisable to castle in the early part of the game. Black checkmates by castling queenside (king to c8 and rook jumps over it to d8).

Here is another example of a real-life game played in London, 1912, in which checkmate by castling could have occurred, but the winner decided to play Kd2 instead:

How to castle in chess – the rules

Remember what we said before about the king moving two spaces to the left or right and the rook jumping over? That is how you make the move on a basic level, but we also said there are a number of rules that apply to make it legal.

Castling can only happen if all of the following conditions are met in a game:

1. The king has not previously moved;
2. Your chosen rook has not previously moved;
3. There must be no pieces between the king and the chosen rook;
4. The king is not currently in check;
5. Your king must not pass through a square that is under attack by enemy pieces;
6. The king must not end up in check.

But the idea of castling – or not, as the case may be – should be on your mind right from the first move. Don’t wait for those conditions to arise out of the opening – work to make them happen if you want to castle. And most of the time you probably will.

Remember for most players at beginner/intermediate levels there are three basic aims you should be trying to achieve in the opening. They are:

1. Occupy the center
2. Develop your pieces
3. Get your king safe/castle

So you can see that understanding castling and when to effect it should be a fundamental part of your training.

OK, I know how to castle in chess – but not when?

Now you know how to castle in chess, your king’s safety should always be on your mind. You should always consider castling if you want a safe king and are able to. However, there are points where it may be a bad idea.

One example of when castling may be a bad idea is if your king is already safe and it is a waste of time and put it off.

The reason for this is that at the start of the game, during the opening, developing your pieces is equally if not more important. It is hard for the opposition to directly threaten your king’s safety early on and if they don’t play any threatening moves then you may feel getting your pieces out and launching your own attack is more important.

In many ways, chess is like a race where you have to get your big guns out quickly if you want to hurt the opposition. Attack is sometimes the best form of defense.

The other consideration to make is whether, as we discussed before, you are putting your king in jeopardy. Opposite-side castling, that’s when one player castles king-side and the other goes queen-side, can often be a bit dodgy. Positions, where that has happened, tend to be very double-edged and benefit one player over the other. If that is you, then great, if not – be wary.

What is the code for castling on the king’s side in standard chess game notation?

A quick and easy answer here: 0-0 is the code for castling on the king’s side in standard chess game notation. And 0-0-0 is the code for castling on the queen’s side in standard chess notation.

When the castle comes crashing down! A famous game to enjoy

In this brilliant game from way back in 1862, the great Adolf Anderssen playing Black shows how to punish White for castling queen-side. White, played by Jakob Rosanes, failed to castle early and then got into trouble as Black’s pieces launched an attack.

On move 14 he castled queen-side (0-0-0 in chess notation) as a way to get his king safe and protect White’s double threat against the b2 pawn and the knight on g1. It didn’t help, scroll through this to see what happens:

Castling FAQs answered

What are the four rules for castling in chess?

We’ve tried to give a fuller explanation above, but the rules of castling are often boiled down to four points so they are easy to remember. Here they are:

1. The king and the rook may not have moved from their starting squares if you want to castle.
2. All spaces between the king and the rook must be empty.
3. The king cannot be in check.
4. The squares that the king passes over must not be under attack, nor the square where it lands on.

Is castling a good move in chess?

In the right circumstances, yes. Thankfully, those circumstances occur quite often so generally, it is a good move. But watch out! It can be a shocker!

Can you castle out of Checkmate?

No. Remember the golden rules above: you can’t castle through a line of check. Besides, it wouldn’t be checkmate if you could castle out of it, checkmate only occurs when it is the end of the game.

What is the advantage of castling in chess?

King-safety and developing your rook, which gets to pop out into the open and affect the game.

How many times castling can be done in chess?

Each side only gets to castle once in a game.

When was castling added to chess?

Castling was a relatively late addition to this 1,500-year-old game. It was only introduced around the 14th or 15th century and did not develop into its present form until the 17th century.

Can you Castle your queen?

No, don’t be silly. We haven’t mentioned the queen at all in this guide.

Can you castle if you have been in check?

If you have previously been in check, but are no longer, then yes.

What is the advantage of castling in chess?

Usually, it’s getting your king into a nice, safe cubby-hole and getting the rook out to attack.

Can you castle if Rook is under attack?

Yes, it’s only the king you have to worry about.

When was castling added to chess?

Same answer as above – in the 14th or 15th century.

Why is Castle called Rook?

It is believed to come from the Persian word “rukh”, meaning chariot. There are many theories as to how the present version was arrived at, but one possible explanation is that when the game was imported to Italy, the Persian rokh became the Italian word rocca, meaning fortress.

Can you castle through a knight?

Through a knight’s check? No. Over a knight? No.

Can you castle on the queen side in chess?

Yes the king can castle both sides. See above for how.