What is Queenside castling in chess?
Castling toward the a-file, also written O-O-O, moving the king to c1 (or c8).
Queenside castling places the king on c1 for White (c8 for Black) with the rook moving to d1 (d8). It requires clearing the queen, bishop, and knight from between king and rook. Games where opposite sides castle queenside and kingside often lead to sharp attacks.
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- 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.
- CheckmateThe king is in check and has no legal way to escape - the game is over.
- DrawA game that ends with no winner - both players score half a point.