Rook

The rook is one of the most powerful pieces in chess! If you want to be better at chess, you must learn how to use your rook properly.

Here is everything you need to know about the rook:

The Rook In Chess

When a chess game starts, each player has two rooks. They are the pieces that stand on the board's corners: the a1, a8, h1, and h8-squares.

The chess rook.

The rook is one of the best pieces of the board, and for that reason, we say that it is a major piece. It is worth five points, two more than knights and bishops. The only piece worth more than the rook is the queen, which is worth nine points.

The rooks are dancing to celebrate their power.

The Movement Of The Rook

The way the rook moves is the reason why it is such a powerful piece. It can move up and down, as well as left and right. It can also go as far as it wants.

The rook movement in chess.

If you need help remembering how the rook moves, just imagine a plus sign (+).

The rook moves like a plus sign.

Unlike the knight, the rook cannot jump over other pieces. That is why rooks usually like open files. That way, they can freely move up the board whenever they want.

Rooks like open files.

Rook Checkmates

Another reason why rooks are so powerful is that they can deliver three very common types of checkmates.

One basic way to checkmate with the rook is by utilizing the technique that people know as rook rolling (also called the lawnmower mate). To do that, you just need to roll your rooks all the way to the board's end, taking the enemy king with them.

Rook rolling and winning.

You don't need two rooks to checkmate your opponent. You can also take advantage of the pawns blocking a castled king to do so, delivering a back rank mate. Whenever you see pawns blocking the enemy king, you can attack the back rank and win the game.

Rooks can deliver back rank mates.

Finally, you don't even need to rely on your opponent's pawns to checkmate a king with your rook. If your own king is there to support the rook, you have all you need to win the game.

The rook and the king are enough to checkmate and win.

 

Wrapping Up

You now know what a rook is in chess, how much it is worth, how it moves, and how to checkmate your opponent using it. Head over to our Lessons page to learn more about the other chess pieces to become a chess genius!

 

The Rook Video