Should you ever move your general prophylactically before you are checked?
These answers restate the rules implemented by our open-source engine, which follows the WXF laws and is regression-tested against the official 110-diagram repetition casebook. Where an answer refers to a specific position, that position lives on the linked reference page, where the build verifies it against the engine before publishing.
Direct answer
Occasionally, but mostly in the endgame, and only for a concrete reason: stepping off a point before a check arrives can avoid being forced to a worse square later, once other pieces have committed the general's options. In the opening and middlegame, moving the general with nothing yet threatening it almost always costs more tempo than it saves.
When it is actually worth the move
Late in the game, when you can see that an approaching attacker will eventually force the general to a specific point, and a different point reached now is clearly safer than the one you would be pushed to later, stepping there early can save a move under pressure. It is a calculation, not a habit.
Why it is usually wrong earlier in the game
A general move that is not answering a real threat develops nothing and frequently opens a line that was better left closed. See should I move my general in the opening for why this almost never pays off before the endgame.
Related questions
How do I know whether a specific prophylactic move is worth it?
Only by calculating the specific line it is pre-empting; there is no general rule beyond the endgame guidance above.
Is this the same idea as prophylaxis with other pieces?
Yes, the concept, moving to prevent a future problem rather than answer a current one, applies the same way to any piece, though it is riskiest with the general given how little room it has.
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