What is Castling in chess?
A move that tucks your king to safety and activates a rook.
The king moves two squares toward a rook and the rook jumps to the other side. You can't castle through check, out of check, or after either piece has moved.
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- Kingside castlingCastling toward the h-file, also written O-O, moving the king to g1 (or g8).
- Queenside castlingCastling toward the a-file, also written O-O-O, moving the king to c1 (or c8).
- Promotion (queening)A pawn reaching the far rank becomes any piece, almost always a queen.
- UnderpromotionPromoting a pawn to a rook, bishop, or knight instead of a queen.
- StalemateA draw where the player to move has no legal move and isn't in check.
- CheckA direct attack on the king that must be dealt with immediately.