The rook moves horizontally or vertically, through any number of unoccupied squares (see diagram on the left).
The rook captures an enemy piece with the same movement.
The rook also participates, with the king, in a special move called castling (which will be explained in another section)
The rook is a valuable piece (worth 5 points). It is a good idea to place your rooks behind your pawns or other pieces.
Rooks are also great to place behind open rows (where there are no pawns in the column to block the path of the rook) or half open rows (where only 1 pawn of one color is occupying the column).
Now it’s time to practice! The rook is great at attacking two pieces at once, or even checkmating the enemy king. Visualize using your mind. White to move and win in 1.
Answers are in the next section.
1. _____
2. _____
3. _____
4. _____
5. _____
6. _____
7. _____
8. _____
Answers:
Rd7+
Rd8#
Rd4
Rd6
Rd8#
Re8#
Rg4
Re7