Lesson 10 - Castling Rules

Ask for a volunteer to put black Queen on the board, and it has to be ‘check’.

1. Is this check? 2. Is this a safe spot to go to? e6 - yes, safe e5 - yes, unsafe, why? e4 - yes, unsafe, why? dxQ, or NxQ e3 - yes, unsafe, why? fxQ e2 - yes, unsafe, why? QxQ

So the only safe check spot is there (Q on e6)

Now normally you block with the lowest piece. What is the lowest piece in chess? A Pawn Can I block like that? Move c pawn to e4. No.

So I need to block with the 2nd lowest piece. What is that? N. Why is N lower than B? Lower in rank because it can go to less spots.

But can I castle? The rule in chess: If you are in trouble with the king, you cannot run into your castle. If you are in check, you can not castle. So can you castle here? No, because……? I’m in check, no castle.

What about here (black Q on h3). Can I castle? Am I in check? On step number 0 (touch king), no check. On step number 1 (Kf1). Am I in check? Yes, therefore I can’t castle (put king back on e1).

Now I put my queen here (f3). I want to castle. I know I can take the queen (Nxf3), but I want to castle. Step number zero (e1). Am I in check? no Step number 1 (Kf1). Am I in check? no Step number 2 (Kg2). Am I in check? no, I can castle.

Castling has nothing to do with the rook. Nothing! It’s okay that the rook is in trouble (pick up queen and tap rook), because it’s about the move of the king. Is the King in check on step 0, step 1, or step 2? No. Then I can castle (0-0).

If I put the black Q in g2 and a white N on g1. Can I castle?

Move 1. Am I in check? Yes, so you can’t castle.

Okay, so what if I take the Queen off the board. Am I in check? No Move 1. Am I in check here? No. Move 2 (tap K on N). We cannot sit with two people on one chair, and therefore I can’t castle.

How about in this one. If this rook was here (f1) can I castle?

Step 0 - Am I in check? No Step 1 - Am I in check? No, but someone is sitting here (tap K on R). Can’t have 2 people on one chair, so the rook needs to be in the corner (move rook to h1), and the K needs to be there (e1).

One more rule. You cannot do this 1. Ke2, h6. 2. Ke1 …. and then castle. Because the king went walk-about. You have one shot to do castling. You can not play with your king first or your rook first.

Summary: Always check. Move number O. Am I in check? no. Step number 1? Am I in check? no. Step number 2? No. Then we can castle. (0-0)

The funny part is you can castle to the right, and the left.

The left one looks a little different.

Am I in check? No Step 1, No, Step 2. No . Pick up rook and put it like that (0-0-0)

What is the difference between castling to the left and castling to the right? 0-0-0 I have here 3 spots (b2,b3,b4), so we call it long. 0-0, I have here 2 spot (f1,g1) so we call it short.

Is we castle long, it’s kind of unsafe, because you are hanging out of your window. Are you sitting in the middle of your middle of your living room? No. So after you castle long, and then black moves (e.g h6), you need to move the king into the middle of your living room (Kb1). So castling long, takes a longer time. So it’s not only long because it’s 3 spots, but also long because it takes longer to get your king into the living room.

Workbook: Step 1: Pg 39 Stepping Stones 2: Pg 8-11