good rules of thumb, however i don't see anything about recognizing interior files protection, or control of the long diagonals. If playing against a system, say a Reti like setup then suddenly a king side castle becomes more problematic. The rules of thumb are great, however perhaps the most important part of the rules of thumb, are recognizing that sometimes they must not be followed.
The last thing you need to castle into is a bishop queen battering ram.
Vukovic had something to say on this subject in his 'art of attack in chess':
not castling or postponing it is good in 5 different situations:
1) a different action (like winning material) is more useful;
2) it is dangerous yet (see fabianFnas' example);
3) you want to castle on the other side and need to make preperations doing so;
4) the centre is completely blocked which means the king is safe in the centre;
5) the endgame is (already) near which means the king is well-placed in the centre.
Originally posted by schakuhrExcellent advice. Beginners should castle as quickly as possible. More advanced players (say, 1200-1500 strength) can start to incorporate these ideas into their thinking.
Vukovic had something to say on this subject in his 'art of attack in chess':
not castling or postponing it is good in 5 different situations:
1) a different action (like winning material) is more useful;
2) it is dangerous yet (see fabianFnas' example);
3) you want to castle on the other side and need to make preperations doing so;
4) the centre i ...[text shortened]... centre;
5) the endgame is (already) near which means the king is well-placed in the centre.
Here's a recent example of 2). Sometimes really strong players like afcacbs can get tripped up.
Game 5007567
I can't think of a game I've lost here where I castled too early. However I think there are a few in which I never got around to it. =)
Originally posted by Sam The ShamShow a perfect chessgame by the big boys,or by anyone for that matter,and you'll have proven something.
Just look at games by the big boys and tell me they don't castle in order to secure their King and hook up their Rooks, then we'll have something to talk about.
A few years ago it was my great pleasure to spend a whole
afternoon alone with one the best chess players in the history
of the game. I won't name drop. He was one of the 4 famous 'K's'.
The day before he had given a simultaneous display.
I asked if he had any strategy for simuls, did he change his style?
"Not really. Wipe out the players who don't castle and then
concentrate on the rest."
Game 409916
a english game with a long pawn march in which i choose not to castle. i keep pressure and atempo i also am utilizing a pawn wall that weakens castling positions, therefore i choose to break the rule and leave the king in the center of the board.
So i choose not to castle, not because an impending thread... not because their is a "stronger move" persay, but my reasoning becomes simply that it may not gain any more defensible position after my pawn wall has already started, and my system of pins becomes more clear.
not the most perfect example, as castling could have been performed and wouldn't be questioned, however in this example it works because the kings safety is never mismanaged.
Originally posted by Sam The ShamIt makes perfect sense.I will clarify my reasoning.
Make a statement that makes sense, and you'll have proven something.
What the strongest players of their time think are the best moves only shows where current human chesstheory stands,it's not proof of the correctness of those moves.Take the sicilian defense,there was a time it was considered rubbish for no decent player would even consider playing it,therefore the lesser players,people like you and me,simply assumed it was no good.Then someone saw it's potential,had success playing it,others joined in and it gradually grew to become what it is today: the most played defense to 1.e4.
Same could happen with castling.It's possible that,despite the importance we give to castling today,in 20 or 30 or 50 years people discover it's almost always better to keep the king in the center and castling is rarely seen in chess anymore.
We do not know because,as far as we know,the perfect chessgame has yet to be played.