How does castling affect win rates? This analysis shows castling frequency, compares kingside vs queenside, and examines how different castling patterns impact game outcomes.
Source Lichess·Games 2,098,823,120·Range 2023-12 to 2025-11·Updated January 2026
Castle Types Kingside (O-O) = short castle to g-file. Queenside (O-O-O) = long castle to c-file. No Castle = king never castled.
Opposite-side castling gives White 49% win rate vs 49% when both castle kingside.
When kings castle to opposite sides, games become sharper and White's first-move advantage is more pronounced. 64% of players castle kingside.
Increases with rating: 41% → 75%
Kingside Castle Rate by Rating
White wins more in opposite castling games across all ratings
Opposite Castling White Win% by Rating
Similar across time controls (~50%)
Opposite Castling White Win% by Time Control
How different castling combinations affect game outcomes (White win rate shown)
Opposite-side castling leads to sharper games where White's first-move advantage becomes more pronounced. Both players launch pawn storms against the enemy king, favoring the side that attacks faster.
Yes - castling patterns significantly impact outcomes. In Lichess games, 64% of players castle kingside. When both sides castle kingside, White wins 49%, but opposite-side castling boosts White to 49%. This suggests that when kings castle to opposite sides, the game becomes sharper and White's first-move advantage is more pronounced.
64% of players castle kingside. In Lichess games, White castles kingside 66% and queenside 13%. Black castles kingside 63% and queenside 12%.
When both players castle kingside, White wins 49% of games. When they castle to opposite sides, White wins 49%—a 0.6 percentage point increase.
White wins 49% when kings castle to opposite sides, compared to 49% when both castle kingside. The difference is relatively small.
White doesn't castle in 21% of games, and Black skips castling 26% of the time. Many games end before castling is possible.
Yes. At 2500+, players castle kingside 75% with 14% no-castle. At 0-999, kingside is 41% with 49% no-castle. Higher-rated players castle more often.
Yes. In Classical, players castle kingside 54% with 37% no-castle. In UltraBullet, kingside is 54% with 38% no-castle. UltraBullet has 1.2 more games without castling.
Only 13% of White and 12% of Black players castle queenside—a minority. This reflects opening choice, not quality.
When opposite-side castling occurs, White wins 49% compared to 49% in same-side games—outcomes are similar.