The Rook

Let's not call the tower a castle or a palace, because that misses the point. The tower once symbolized not the tower of a castle, but the chariot of a warrior, as it did in the ancient Indian version of the game.

As chess became popular in Europe, the piece evolved into something more familiar to Europeans.

In medieval chess, the rook was the strongest piece. For this reason, the rook or roc was often used as a heraldic figure. The rook is still the second strongest piece in chess. It can move long distances.

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Basically, the rook can move both horizontally and vertically over any number of squares. It may move linearly to any free square in any direction, but without jumping over other pieces.

The only exception to this is castling, in the course of which the rook jumps over the king once.

Along a row or line of the chessboard, a rook may move across white and black squares and be placed on any other square, as long as the path is clear.

In contrast to all other pieces, the rook always moves the same number of squares on the chessboard, namely 14, from any position – if the move path is free. This means that the rook can be used very effectively, especially at the edge of the board.

The value of the rook is given as five pawn units. As with all pieces, this value can vary. Especially in blocked positions, the rook is very limited in its movement possibilities.

Note that the rook cannot move only on the same squares of its color on which it started (compared to the bishop).

This piece is worth about five pawns. In general, rooks are stronger than the bishop or knight (also called light pieces), and are valued about two pawns more valuable than the two pieces.

Nevertheless, it is one of the most valuable pieces in chess, behind the queen.

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