It could however, castle Queenside if it so chose… the Rook can cross the b8-square completing the castling move. Remember it is only the King that is prohibited from crossing the line of fire… not the Rook! Likewise, the Black King cannot castle Kingside because it would have to cross the f8-square controlled by the white Knight. However, white CAN castle Queenside even though the black Bishop is slicing down the diagonal and attacking the Rook. His Knight on g1 still blocks the Kingside castling path so he would have to move it in order to castle in that direction. In Diagram #4, the white King has only one castling option. Black can only castle Kingside after driving the white Bishop off the a3-f8 diagonal or blocking it. However, white can safely castle Kingside. For the white King, he can't castle on the Queenside because (1) his Queen's Rook has already moved and (2) the black Rook on d8 is firing cannon shots down the d-file. He also cannot castle to the Queenside because the Rook has already moved.
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