The corners are where checkmates happen, better to hold it in reserve and keep your options open. A long castle might bring an attack on a central file by the rook. If the board opens up and you still have a good pawn structure to castle into, while your opponent doesn't (like they've lost castling rights), then, yeah sure why not; if you happen to have a spare tempo lying around. I guess I'm saying NOT castling (or at least not castling early) often has benefits, just like en passant is not always a good idea. Castling can be good for making a quick getaway later in the game and, as black, not castling if it's not needed, when your opponent does... saves a tempo and bring even chances or better. Anything to add or subtract?
Mostly subtract.
Well,
How so? I genuinely value your opinion. Is it really such a good idea to commit early, like I see so many do? I seem to have some success down here in the 1500s just keeping an eye out for the critical, now or never, time. Is it mostly psychological?
Coyote
How so? I genuinely value your opinion. Is it really such a good idea to commit early, like I see so many do? I seem to have some success down here in the 1500s just keeping an eye out for the critical, now or never, time. Is it mostly psychological?
Coyote
Dead wrong. You want to develop your rooks by first letting them see each other, and then possibly stacking them in some file. For this you need to get the king out of their way. You could do this by advancing your king to the second rank, but then he's closer to the enemy pieces and in a center file where he can be attacked from both sides of the board. Or you can just castle and now the other guy has to figure out how to maneuver his pieces closer to your king.
There's a reason why pros castle. Ask yourself how likely it is that you discovered something that the top players in the world have never figured out. The tempo you save by not castling is a tempo the other guy invested into his rooks, and those rooks are gonna dominate one of yours somewhere while the other one is waiting in a corner.
There's a reason why pros castle. Ask yourself how likely it is that you discovered something that the top players in the world have never figured out. The tempo you save by not castling is a tempo the other guy invested into his rooks, and those rooks are gonna dominate one of yours somewhere while the other one is waiting in a corner.
I wouldn't say dead wrong, I've heard pros including Hikaru advise that in particular situations it was better to postpone, but your points are well taken. I'm not a machine so my intuition is more focused on the situation as it seems, I know I'm missing all kinds of things Stockfish can see, and if I played a FM or higher I would be wiped off the board, but connecting rooks isn't all rooks are good for, and machines playing machines only castle when they need to. I do consider your reasons in my decision whether to castle, but the rooks will develop later in the game in any case (castling, lifting, sac'ing, who knows?), it depends a lot on what my opponent is doing. The pros can prepare 25+ moves for an opening and calculate 7-8 for the middle game. I can't, and neither can the opponents I play. If I can push forward, I may very well have to abandon the idea in the face of stronger opponents, but for now, I think it has its merits.
@immortal_coyote said in #1:
> The corners are where checkmates happen
Cause and effect. Checkmates happen where the kings are.
> The corners are where checkmates happen
Cause and effect. Checkmates happen where the kings are.
Yes you have to wait a little bit to be sure you'll be safe on the side you want to castle on.
If you're able to actually figure out the opponent plan in advance then it's a lot easier to defend.
Plus sometimes it's better to just attack some weaknesses and castle later, basically it's not that castling is bad but just that picking the wrong side can cost you moves you shouldn't waste.
It's a little abstract and there are a lot of exceptions but it's not a bad checkbox to have in mind, in my opinion.
If you're able to actually figure out the opponent plan in advance then it's a lot easier to defend.
Plus sometimes it's better to just attack some weaknesses and castle later, basically it's not that castling is bad but just that picking the wrong side can cost you moves you shouldn't waste.
It's a little abstract and there are a lot of exceptions but it's not a bad checkbox to have in mind, in my opinion.
There is some grain of truth here, though. I've seen/heard it mentioned on multiple occasions that there is indeed a trend among strong players to delay castling more than it used to be common in the past. Rather than not losing a tempo, the idea is that delaying the castling allows a player to keep multiple options open, including the decision where to castle. But that doesn't mean, of course, that castling is something wrong, obsolete or waste of precious time. Also, playing like this and identifying the right moment requires experience and knowledge.
Not castling is great , I'm in complete agreement with you until my king gets captured in the centre! Lol but I'm always pleased when my opponent castles I know where I have to attack , but I'm a lowly 1600 average player and there must be a reason all the good players say develop your pieces and castle early. I prefer to wait sometimes I wait too long then game over, I can see arguments for both. But I really do celebrate when my opponent castles , it's those that wait that I can't play.
Please people don't start looking at my games , picking away at drunken games , ,just saying I like it when my opponent castles , I feel it improves my chance of a win xxx
Please people don't start looking at my games , picking away at drunken games , ,just saying I like it when my opponent castles , I feel it improves my chance of a win xxx
@sheckley666 said in #6:
> Cause and effect. Checkmates happen where the kings are.
BBKvsK and BNKvsK both take place in the corners because the King's movements are restricted there; fewer squares, fewer options. If you have support, it's cool, but under attack (which of course are) you can literally be cornered. The ideas behind those basic checkmates can also be exploited sometimes when other pieces are around (shouldering, waiting moves, ...). If you keep an eye open for the threats and have an escape plan (like keeping your castling options open), the center isn't so bad.
Ehh - it's board vision, not paying tired, game analysis, and psychology. Castling is relatively unimportant; just another move; saves some time if you don't have to do it by hand.
> Cause and effect. Checkmates happen where the kings are.
BBKvsK and BNKvsK both take place in the corners because the King's movements are restricted there; fewer squares, fewer options. If you have support, it's cool, but under attack (which of course are) you can literally be cornered. The ideas behind those basic checkmates can also be exploited sometimes when other pieces are around (shouldering, waiting moves, ...). If you keep an eye open for the threats and have an escape plan (like keeping your castling options open), the center isn't so bad.
Ehh - it's board vision, not paying tired, game analysis, and psychology. Castling is relatively unimportant; just another move; saves some time if you don't have to do it by hand.