Castling

One other special rule is called castling. This move allows you to do two important things all in one move: get your king to safety (hopefully), and get your rook out of the corner and into the game. On a players turn he may move his king two squares over to one side and then move the rook from that sides corner to right next to the king on the opposite side. However, in order to castle, the following conditions must be met: it must be that kings very first move it must be that rooks very first move there cannot be any pieces between the king and rook to move the king may not be in check or pass through check.
Notice that when you castle one direction the king is closer to the side of the board. That is called castling kingside. Castling to the other side, through where the queen sat, is called castling queenside. Regardless of which side, the king always moves only two squares when castling.