Castling

Only once in a game is a player allowed to move more than one piece at a time. This one move is called castling and is made by the King together with one of the Rooks. To castle, the King moves two squares toward the Rook and the Rook is placed on the square over which the King has passed. In the following diagram, both players may castle to either side.

To castle King's Side, White would place his King on g1 and the King's Rook on f1; To castle Queen's side, the King would move to c1 while the Queen's Rook would move to d1. Black would castle by either playing the King to g8 and the Rook from h8 to f8, or the King to c8 and the Rook to a8 to d8.

Castling is permitted only when neither King nor Rook concerned has previously moved, when none of the squares between the King and the Rook are blocked and when none of the three squares involved in the King's move are controlled by an opposing piece. If in check, the player may not castle. In the following diagram neither White nor Black may castle.

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