Rules for castling

I recieved a lot of positive feedback in my last post about rules for pawns.

Lets compile a list of general rules for and against castling.

1. Typically castling in the first ten moves is a good idea

2. When queens come off catsling is not as important

What do you mean by rule 2?  

i mean that the kings are general safe uncastled once the queens come off the board, it becomes a much lower priority to get the king safer

Thanks for the info.    

Glad to help, these posts are to help those starting out like yourself

I beg to differ with the first one.  It depends on the opening.

For example, in the KIA vs Sicilian, 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nbd2 g6 5.g3 Bg7 6.Bg2 Nge7 7.O-O d5 8.e4, it is known to be bad for Black to play 8...O-O because of early commitment.  White is specifically ready for a Kingside attack.  Black should play 8...b6 and wait on Castling until later.  If Black does play 8...O-O, White should avoid the immediate 9.e5 due to 9...g5!, but 9.Qe2 or 9.Nf1 or 9.h4 are all good for White.

Many lines of the Modern Defense, and even certain lines of the French Defense, Black should also hold off on Castling.  In the case of the Dzinzi Indian Defense (1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 f5!), Black will "typically" castle Queenside in most lines, but Black should specifically wait to castle until he absolutely has to!

As for the other one, if the Queens are off, it depends on the situation of the rest of the pieces.  If there is a single open file, and the Rooks are likely going to get traded off, and you are arriving at a minor piece endgame, the King is best off in the center as it's better prepared for the minor piece endgame.  However, if the Queens are traded in a different manner than say, Qxd8+ Kxd8 or Qxd1+ Kxd1, and you don't have an open file, and all the other pieces are still on the board, sometimes castling is still necessary.  King safety can still be an issue, but also, sometimes it's just the easiest way to connect the rooks if you know that an endgame is nowhere in site.

I find it's probably a better idea to list the reasons why people castle, than list when.  

Many times, I find castling is a high tempo move that establishes king safety, connects my rooks, undoes the immediate weakness on f7/f2, and typically leads to smoother development if done "early".  Whether that is move 4, 7, or 11, the idea of castling early, like many things in chess, depends.  On very rare occasion, I found it necessary not to castle at all, but that doesn't mean that should be my first approach coming into a game.  Deciding whether I castle long depends on whether my kingside pawns have been compromised, or whether it creates an immediate attack (rook on open-d file, and connecting with the other one is pretty sweet when combined with a kingside pawn storm), among other things I can't think of off the top of my head.  

For every one else, why do you castle, and if castling long / short, what's the reasoning behind your decision?

yes there are exceptions, these are general rules. nothing is absolute. I would rather see the beginner get in the habit of cascling early then in the habit of not castling. Your blitz rating is above 1700 so you are not a beginner and you understand when to and when not to castle therefor do not as much need to worry about the guidlines. What you said is true and accurate, but not useful until one understands the basics of castling

those two are often connected, so  by all means list both :)

as to why, i usually take the general rules for castling into consideration, along with the the general rules concerning other areas of the game, then look at the opinings in the game, then compare the style of my opponent and the stlye i want to play in that particular game. but that is a lot to comprehend when newly learning the game haha

I always get flak for saying this: Only castle if it's the best move available.

Hundreds of years from now, this will be a famous quote on the chess sites of the future:

rooperi (2012) How often have you wished you kept a rook on h1 to support your h pawn push

well I say rules for the beginner and then they become guidlines once you understand the rules

haha yes only if it is the best move you can find

also if you can queenside castle with tempo it can be really useful, expecially when they are lining up an attack on the kingside

I teach chess to 5-10 year olds.  What is a good reason behind the rule that you cannot castle out of check?

So far, my students have come up with: it'd be too cheap to escape check by castling.

Any suggestions?

when in check the King is fighting, he is to slow to run away while under attack

When in check, you're not allowed to move any piece other than your king. There are two exceptions to this rule:

• The other piece you move is put in between your king and the attacking piece, and therefore blocking the check.
• The other piece captures the attacking piece.

None of the above applies to the moving rook during castling. So I guess that's the reason that castling out of check is not allowed.