Answers.Body: <p>There is one possibility when castling would be illegal - if king has moved earlier in the game - then the move would be illegal.</p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2017-10-04T11:45:26.813Z
Answers.Text: Welcome to Chess Stack Exchange! While this is correct in general, this does not apply to the question at hand.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Glorfindel
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Answers.Text: You cannot move your king over a check to castle either.
Answers.UserDisplayName: johnny
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Answers.CreationDate: 2020-12-14T01:04:22.837Z
Answers.Text: @johnny But there is no check in this position.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Acccumulation
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Justas
Answers.Body: <p><strong>Executive summary:</strong></p>
  
  <p>Black actually can castle, but if he does castle he will lose the knight and the game (due to material loss).</p>
  
  <p><strong>Detailed answer:</strong></p>
  
  <p>Black and White have equal material.</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>The black knight is protected by two pieces: the king and the queen.</li>
  <li>The black knight is attacked  by two pieces: the queen and rook.</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>If the king castles, the knight will be protected only by the queen, and White will be able to win the knight which will lead to a big material advantage: a knight, which is worth about 3 points.</p>
  
  <p>"Castle by hand" (meaning moving the king and the rook over several turns until they reach a castle position) will allow Black to keep protecting the knight. (E.g. By moving the king to F7 to protect the knight, followed by a rook to E8, etc.)</p>
  
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Answers.Text: Ok, so it wouldn't be _illegal_, just a bad idea because white would lose a knight, correct?
Answers.UserDisplayName: garci560
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Answers.Text: @nprensen - correct - this is my understanding.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Yaron
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Answers.CreationDate: 2017-10-03T12:11:23.493Z
Answers.Text: @nprensen - did I answer your question?
Answers.UserDisplayName: Yaron
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Answers.Text: @nprensen Except if the king has been moved earlier in the game, then you're not allowed to castle. Or if a rook has been moved earlier, then you cannot castle with that rook. But that's probably not the case in this game.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Paul
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Answers.Text: @Paul yes you can, if you move it back to its original position.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
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Answers.CreationDate: 2017-10-04T20:54:48.717Z
Answers.Text: @ThorbjørnRavnAndersen From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castling#Requirements): "Neither the king nor the chosen rook has previously moved."
Answers.UserDisplayName: Paul
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Answers.Text: @Paul I'm pretty sure that I was taught what I say back in the 80'es but that was probably tightened later to ensure clarity.  I cannot find anything to back this up, so I'm probably just plainly wrong :)
Answers.UserDisplayName: Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Yaron
Body: <p>In a <a href="https://www.chesscademy.com/videos/the-king-in-the-center" rel="nofollow noreferrer">video I'm watching</a> (requires register), it has this setup.</p>
  <pre><code>[FEN &quot;r3k2r/pp1qn1pp/2p2p2/8/3P4/5N2/PP2QPPP/2R1R1K1 b kq - 0 1&quot;]
  [startflipped &quot;&quot;]
  </code></pre>
  <p>The instructor says:</p>
  <blockquote>
  <p>The king cannot escape, he cannot castle kingside or queenside,
  because of the white's pressure on e7 [...]. Black wants to escape
  this pressure by castling by hand.</p>
  </blockquote>
  <p>I don't understand why can't black castle. It won't castle <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castling#Requirements" rel="nofollow noreferrer">from, through, or into check</a>. Why is it?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2017-10-03T15:08:39.630Z
Comments.Text: Black certainly can castle for both sides, but if he does... you know that `Qxe7 Qxe7` followed by `Rxe7` winning the knight as well. White gaining material advantage afterwards.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Tetsuya Yamamoto
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2017-10-04T17:34:31.880Z
Comments.Text: He just means you better not castle.
Comments.UserDisplayName: johnny
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2017-10-04T19:11:07.263Z
Comments.Text: In other words, the king _should_ not escape or castle to either side, because it would mean giving a queen and knight (and if he castles queenside, a pawn, for after `Qxe7 Qxe7` `Rxe7` Black can't defend both`... Rxb7` and `... Rxg7`) for a queen.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Monty Harder
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2021-07-31T07:09:21.253Z
Comments.Text: I remember this game as one played by Steinitz in the Hastings 1895 tournament.. definitely not someone who should be annotated as NN. White later sacs a pawn by playing d5 so he can play Nd4 Nf5 so that he can put further pressure on the kingside.
Comments.UserDisplayName: N.S.JOHN
Tags: <rules><castling>
Title: Why can't the king castle in this position?
ThreadText: # Why can't the king castle in this position?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2017-10-03)
  
  In a video I'm watching (requires register), it has this setup.
  [FEN "r3k2r/pp1qn1pp/2p2p2/8/3P4/5N2/PP2QPPP/2R1R1K1 b kq - 0 1"]
  [startflipped ""]
  
  The instructor says:
  
  The king cannot escape, he cannot castle kingside or queenside,
  because of the white's pressure on e7 [...]. Black wants to escape
  this pressure by castling by hand.
  
  I don't understand why can't black castle. It won't castle from, through, or into check. Why is it?
  
  **Tags:** rules, castling
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Black certainly can castle for both sides, but if he does... you know that `Qxe7 Qxe7` followed by `Rxe7` winning the knight as well. White gaining material advantage afterwards.  
  > **username_2**: He just means you better not castle.  
  > **username_3**: In other words, the king _should_ not escape or castle to either side, because it would mean giving a queen and knight (and if he castles queenside, a pawn, for after `Qxe7 Qxe7` `Rxe7` Black can't defend both`... Rxb7` and `... Rxg7`) for a queen.  
  > **username_4**: I remember this game as one played by Steinitz in the Hastings 1895 tournament.. definitely not someone who should be annotated as NN. White later sacs a pawn by playing d5 so he can play Nd4 Nf5 so that he can put further pressure on the kingside.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_8 on 2017-10-03. Score: 42 | Accepted answer
  
  **Executive summary:**
  
  Black actually can castle, but if he does castle he will lose the knight and the game (due to material loss).
  
  **Detailed answer:**
  
  Black and White have equal material.
  
  * The black knight is protected by two pieces: the king and the queen.
  * The black knight is attacked by two pieces: the queen and rook.
  
  If the king castles, the knight will be protected only by the queen, and White will be able to win the knight which will lead to a big material advantage: a knight, which is worth about 3 points.
  
  "Castle by hand" (meaning moving the king and the rook over several turns until they reach a castle position) will allow Black to keep protecting the knight. (E.g. By moving the king to F7 to protect the knight, followed by a rook to E8, etc.)
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Ok, so it wouldn't be _illegal_, just a bad idea because white would lose a knight, correct?  
  > **username_8**: @nprensen - correct - this is my understanding.  
  > **username_8**: @nprensen - did I answer your question?  
  > **username_9**: @nprensen Except if the king has been moved earlier in the game, then you're not allowed to castle. Or if a rook has been moved earlier, then you cannot castle with that rook. But that's probably not the case in this game.  
  > **username_10**: @username_9 yes you can, if you move it back to its original position.  
  > **username_9**: @ThorbjørnRavnAndersen From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castling#Requirements): "Neither the king nor the chosen rook has previously moved."  
  > **username_10**: @username_9 I'm pretty sure that I was taught what I say back in the 80'es but that was probably tightened later to ensure clarity.  I cannot find anything to back this up, so I'm probably just plainly wrong :)  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_5 on 2017-10-04. Score: 1
  
  There is one possibility when castling would be illegal - if king has moved earlier in the game - then the move would be illegal.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_6**: Welcome to Chess Stack Exchange! While this is correct in general, this does not apply to the question at hand.  
  > **username_2**: You cannot move your king over a check to castle either.  
  > **username_7**: @username_2 But there is no check in this position.  
  
  ---
  
  