Some boys may ask me to explain to them what is meant by “Castling” and "Taking en passant," and as it is somewhat difficult to do so without the use of diagrams, I think I cannot do better than give the required explanation.

V

Castling.—In describing the move of the K, I stated that once during the game the K had the option of an extension of his ordinary move, and promised to describe it later on. This extended move of the K—or rather combined moves of K and R—is termed “Castling.” There are two species of Castling, one on the K’s side, the other on the Q’s side, as shown on the diagrams upon the next page.

The operation of Castling can only be performed once on each side in a game, and that under the following conditions:—

  1. The King must not be in check.
  2. The King must not have moved.
  3. The Rook must not have moved.
  4. The King must not pass over or occupy any square commanded by an adverse man.
  5. All the squares between the King and the Rook must be unoccupied.

These five points being kept in view, Castling is performed as follows:—On the King’s side by the K being moved to K Kt sq and the K R over him to K B sq. On the Queen’s side by the K being moved to Q B sq and the Q R over him to Q sq. By inspecting the diagrams this will be made clear. In Castling it will be observed that the K moves two squares (to the right or left, as the case may be), and the R leaps over him to the adjoining square. In Castling it is always best to move the K first to show clearly that Castling is the move intended. The diagrams show only White’s method of Castling, but Black castles exactly in the same way. It must be borne in mind that previous checks do not prevent the K Castling, so long as he has not been moved, and is not in check at the time of Castling. The young player must also remember that though the K be on his own square, and the R on its square with no intervening piece, yet Castling cannot be performed if either the K or R has moved, and then come back to his original square.

Pawn Taking en Passant.—This method of capturing can only be exercised by a P standing on its fifth square, and the captured P on the move immediately preceding the capture, have been played from the second to the fourth square. The following diagram will assist the student.