Should i castle as early as possible or only when i need to in chess?

Question

Should i castle as early as possible or only when i need to in chess?

Answer 1

As early as possible. If you delay, you can easily lose the chance to do so. Lines open, checks happen, your king is caught in the centre. He is also more vulnerable in the centre.

Another reason for castling is to activate the rook. It's doing no good sitting in the corner. I coach a school chess team. The players who delay castling for too long usually get hammered.

Answer 2

Castling early is good advice, it moves your king to safety and develops a rook, but like all generalized chess advice there are some rare exceptions. For example you wouldn't want to castle if it meant losing a piece or pawn without proper compensation and you wouldn't want to castle into a strong mating attack either.

Answer 3

Castling is a good defensive measure provided the pawns in front of the king have not been weakened by having advanced....however sometimes a knight's pawn is pushed forward to allow the fianchetto of a bishop.

Therefore it is a good general principle to castle as early as possible in the game.

However if your king is safe in the centre and other moves are urgently called for it may be safe to delay castling for a while.

If there are more attacking pieces of the opponent aimed at the pawns in front of the position of the castled king than you have defending those pawns, then you may find you are 'castling into trouble'.  In such case it may be better to castle on the other side.

If you castle on the queen's side, it is generally a good idea to take an extra move (when feasible) after castling to move the king closer to the corner, because after castling on that side he is still too close to the centre.

Answer 4

i really think you should wait i mean you never know what you opponent have up there selves.so all I'm saying man is to only use it when you  really need it.JUST MAKE SURE YOU DO IT BEFORE ENTERING CHECK!!!!!!!!

Answer 5

you should castle within the first ten moves, to protect your king and be ready to fight

Answer 6

I am a National Junior Squad, and I think that castling early is the best, as you must try to control the center, castle, develop your pieces, and lastly, have the initiative!

Answer 7

Hi,

     You may %Q or %K once during a game of chess.  You may like to visit my chess web page - link below?  I hope this is helpful for you.

Yours,

Chesmayne.

Answer 8

Depends if u r in a position to attack or ur opponents position is weak dont waste a move but if u find it is good for ur defence go for it remember casling is a defensive move.

Answer 9

Only when you need to, this will keep your options open.

Answer 10

Castling places your pieces in a powerful alignment so getting there as soon as possible is best for you .