The Chess Piece Rook's Place

Marble Chess Board

I used to call this piece a "castle". I'm not sure where it comes from but it looks like a tower on a wall that reminds me of a castle. Castle or tower or the other previous names for the Rook are not accurate.

In the initial chess board set up or starting position, the Rook is in the outermost corners of the back rows. Again note that one white Rook will be on the white square and the other white Rook will be on the black square. The same is true with the black Rook.

The Rook has the distance ability as the Queen, but not the directions. The Queen chess piece moves in every direction, but the Rook can only move vertically or horizontally. So he can travel up or down and right or left.

The diagram on the right will show how a Rook can capture.

Rook can capture
black Knight or black Bishop

The Rook can capture either the black Bishop or the black Knight. He will travel to the square of the opponent and displace the opponents piece with himself.

Very simple moves, but can be very powerful in certain qualified moves.

I still think of the Rook as a castle, but that's easy to stop. Just learn why a Rook is called a Rook. Learn how a Rook and King work together in a move called "Castling".

Rook

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