Rook (chess)#Initial placement and movement

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| Starting positions of the rooks

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| The white rook can move to any square marked with a white dot. The black rook can move to squares with black dots, or it can capture the pawn on e7.

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The white rooks start on the squares a1 and h1, while the black rooks start on a8 and h8. The rook moves horizontally or vertically, through any number of unoccupied squares. The rook cannot jump over pieces. The rook may capture an enemy piece by moving to the square on which the enemy piece stands, removing it from play. The rook also participates with the king in a special move called castling, wherein it is transferred to the square crossed by the king after the king is shifted two squares toward the rook.

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The rook is worth about five pawns. In general, rooks are stronger than bishops or knights and are considered greater in value than either of those pieces by nearly two pawns, but less valuable than two minor pieces by approximately a pawn. Two rooks are generally considered to be worth slightly more than a queen (see chess piece relative value).{{Cite web|title=The value of the chess pieces|url=https://learn.chessbase.com/en/page/the-value-of-the-pieces-in-chess|access-date=2021-03-11|website=Schach.de|language=en}} Winning a rook for a bishop or knight is referred to as winning the exchange. Rooks and queens are called major pieces or heavy pieces, as opposed to bishops and knights, the minor pieces.{{Cite web|title=Understanding The Value Of Chess Pieces|url=https://www.chesskid.com/article/view/chess-pieces-values|access-date=2021-03-11|website=ChessKid.com|language=en}}

In the opening, the rooks are blocked in by other pieces and cannot immediately participate in the game, so it is usually desirable to connect one's rooks on the {{chessgloss|back rank|first rank}} by castling and then clearing all pieces except the king and rooks from the first rank. In that position, the rooks support each other and can more easily move to occupy and control the most favorable {{chessgloss|files}}.

A common strategic goal is to {{chessgloss|develop}} a rook on the first rank of an open file (i.e., one unobstructed by pawns of either player) or a half-open file (i.e., one unobstructed by friendly pawns). From this position, the rook is relatively unexposed to risk but can exert control on every square on the file. If one file is particularly important, a player might advance one rook on it, then position the other rook behind—doubling the rooks. Having both rooks on the same file is known as a battery and can be very deadly, especially if the queen joins in as well (see Alekhine's Gun).

A rook on the seventh rank (the opponent's second rank) is typically very powerful, as it threatens the opponent's unadvanced pawns and hems in the enemy king. A rook on the seventh rank is often considered sufficient compensation for a pawn.{{Harvnb|Fine|Benko|2003|p=586}} In the diagrammed position from a game between Lev Polugaevsky and Larry Evans,{{Cite web|url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1111927|title=Lev Polugaevsky vs Larry Melvyn Evans (1970)|website=www.chessgames.com}} the rook on the seventh rank enables White to draw, despite being a pawn down.{{Harvnb|Griffiths|1992|pp=102–3}}

{{em|Two}} rooks on the seventh rank are often enough to force victory by the blind swine mate, or at least a draw by perpetual check.The two rooks are sometimes colloquially referred to as "pigs on the seventh", because they often threaten to "eat" the opponent's pieces or pawns.

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|A white rook on the 7th rank

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|White to move, draws. {{pb}}Polugaevsky vs. Evans, 1970

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|Connected black rooks on the 7th rank

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|Black to move, 32...Rxh2+ and White resigns, seeing that 33.Kg1 Rdg2{{chessAN|#}}. {{pb}}Chigorin vs. Steinitz, Havana 1892

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Rooks are most powerful towards the end of a game (i.e., the endgame), when they can move unobstructed by pawns and control large numbers of squares. They have trouble restraining enemy pawns from advancing towards promotion unless they occupy the file behind them. As well, a rook best supports a friendly pawn towards promotion from behind it on the same file (see Tarrasch rule).

In a position with a rook and one or two {{chessgloss|minor pieces}} versus two rooks, generally in addition to pawns, and possibly other pieces, Lev Alburt advises that the player with the single rook should avoid exchanging the rook for one of his opponent's rooks.{{Harvnb|Alburt|2009|p=44}}

The rook is adept at delivering checkmate. Below are a few examples of rook checkmates that are easy to {{cgloss|forced mate|force}}. A single rook can force checkmate while a single minor piece cannot.

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|A king and rook mate. The king and rook work together to force the enemy king to the edge of the board, where it can be checkmated.

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|A back rank checkmate

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|A two-rook checkmate

or the "ladder checkmate"}}

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{{further information|History of chess}}

In the medieval shatranj, the rook symbolized a chariot. The Persian word {{lang|fa-Latn|rukh}} means "chariot",{{Harvnb|Davidson|1949|p=10}} as does the name of the corresponding piece in the original Indian version, chaturanga, {{lang|hi-Latn|ratha}}.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} In modern times, it is mostly known as {{lang|hi|हाथी}} (elephant) to Hindi-speaking players, while East Asian chess games such as xiangqi and shogi have names also meaning chariot ({{lang|zh|車}}) for the same piece.{{lang|zh|現代漢語詞典}} (Modern Chinese Dictionary). {{ISBN|978-962-07-0211-2}}

File:Antique Indian Mughal Chess Rook Elephant.jpg

File:Grose-Francis-Pavisors-and-Moveable-Tower-Assaulting-Castle-1812.jpg, which the rook may be intended to represent]]

File:NMSLewisChessmen6.jpg]]

Persian war chariots were heavily armored, carrying a driver and at least one ranged-weapon bearer, such as an archer. The sides of the chariot were built to resemble fortified stone work, giving the impression of small, mobile buildings, causing terror on the battlefield.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

In Europe, the castle or tower appears for the first time in the 16th century in Vida's 1550 {{lang|la|Ludus Scacchia}}, and then as a tower on the back of an elephant. In time, the elephant disappeared and only the tower was used as the piece.{{cite web | title= Article by Dr. Hans Holländer, "CYCLOPES, ELEPHANTS AND CHESS ROOKS" |url= http://www.chess-museum.com/cyclopes-elephants-and-chess-rooks-by-hans-hollaumlnder.html |access-date= 26 February 2020}}

In the West, the rook is almost universally represented as a crenellated turret. The piece is called {{lang|it|torre}} ("tower") in Italian, Portuguese, Catalan and Spanish; {{lang|fr|tour}} in French; {{lang|nl|toren}} in Dutch; {{lang|de|Turm}} in German; {{lang|sv|torn}} in Swedish; and {{lang|fi|torni}} in Finnish. In Hungarian, it is {{lang|hu|bástya}} ("bastion") and in Hebrew, it is called {{lang|he|צריח}} ({{Transliteration|he|tsariʾaḥ}}, meaning "turret").{{cite web |script-title=he:מילון מורפיקס: צריח | url=https://www.morfix.co.il/צריח | access-date= 9 January 2022 |script-website=he:תרגום מורפיקס}} In the British Museum's collection of the medieval Lewis chess pieces, the rooks appear as stern warders, or wild-eyed berserker warriors.

Rooks are usually similar in appearance to small castles; thus, a rook is sometimes called a "castle",{{Harvnb|Hooper|Whyld|1996}} though modern chess literature rarely, if ever, uses this term.{{harvnb|Horton|1959|p= 175}}

In some languages, the rook is called a ship: Thai {{lang|th|เรือ}} ({{Transliteration|th|reūa}}), Armenian {{lang|hy|Նավակ}} ({{Transliteration|hy|navak}}), Russian {{lang|ru|ладья}} ({{Transliteration|ru|ladya}}), Javanese {{lang|jv|ꦥꦿꦲꦸ}} ({{Transliteration|jv|prahu}}). This may be because of the use of an Arabic style V-shaped rook piece, which some may have mistaken for a ship.{{Cite web|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=MpooAQAAIAAJ&q=%D0%9B%D0%B0%D0%B4%D1%8C%D1%8F+|title= Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia|first= Marek|last= Stachowski|date= January 4, 2002|publisher= Ksie̦garnia Akademicka|via= Google Books}}{{Cite web |date= 20 November 2022|title=ภาพแห่งปี! โรนัลโด้-เมสซี่โพสต์รูปเดียวกันขณะนั่งเล่นหมากรุก |url=https://www.siamsport.co.th/football-international/premierleague/7117/ |website=www.siamsport.co.th}}{{Cite web|url= https://chessschool.am/lesson/15|title= Շախմատային նավակ|first= AIST|last= Global|website= chessschool.am}}{{harvnb|Davidson|1949|p=}} It is possible that the rendition comes from Sanskrit {{Transliteration|sa|roka}} (ship); however, no chaturanga pieces were ever called a {{Transliteration|sa|roka}}. Murray argued that the Javanese could not visualize a chariot moving through the jungles in sweeping fashion as the rook. The only vehicle that moved in straight fashion was a ship, thus they replaced it with {{lang|jv-Latn|prahu}}. Murray, however, did not give an explanation why the Russians call the piece a "ship".

Peter Tyson suggests that there is a correlation between the name of the piece and the word {{lang|fa-Latn|rukh}}, a mythical giant bird of prey from Persian mythology.{{Cite book|last=Tyson|first=Peter|title=The eighth continent: life, death, and discovery in the lost world of Madagascar|publisher=HarperCollins|year=2000|isbn=0-380-97577-7|page=138}}

In South Slavic languages, it is called the "cannon" ({{langx|sh-Cyrl|Топ|top}}).

In Kannada, it is known as {{lang|kn|ಆನೆ}} ({{lang|kn-Latn|āāne}}), meaning "elephant".{{Cite web|url= https://www.english-kannada.com/|title= English :: Kannada Online Dictionary|website=English :: Kannada Online Dictionary}} This is unusual, as the term for elephant is in many other languages applied to the bishop.

{{Cite journal|title= How the Elephant became a Bishop: An Enquiry into the Origin of the Names of Chess Pieces|first= Howard|last= Candler|date= January 1, 1907|journal= Archaeological Journal|volume= 64|issue= 1|pages= 80–90|doi= 10.1080/00665983.1907.10853048 |url = https://zenodo.org/record/2238958}}

{{chess names|name=Rook}}

Image:Arms of the Rookwood family of Stanningfield.png on the name]] Chess rooks frequently occur as heraldic charges. Heraldic rooks are usually shown as they looked in medieval chess sets, with the usual battlements replaced by two outward-curving horns. They occur in arms from around the 13th century onwards.

In Canadian heraldry, the chess rook is the cadency mark of a fifth daughter.

{{main|Chess symbols in Unicode}}

Unicode defines three codepoints for a rook:

♖ U+2656 White Chess Rook

♜ U+265C Black Chess Rook

🨂 U+1FA02 Neutral Chess Rook

• Rook and pawn versus rook endgame
• Tarrasch rule – rooks belong behind passed pawns
• Lucena position – winning position
• Philidor position – drawing position

{{Reflist |30em}}

{{Refbegin |30em |indent=yes}}

• {{citation

|last = Alburt |first = Lev |author-link = Lev Alburt

|date = December 2009

|title = Back to Basics

|journal = Chess Life

|volume = 2009

|issue = 12

|pages = 44–45

}}

• {{cite book|last= Davidson|first= Henry A.|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=PQBpr6KAdHkC&q=javanese+word+for+chariot&pg=PT66|title= A Short History of Chess|year=1949|publisher= Crown|isbn= 978-0-307-82829-3|language= en}}{{PD-notice}}
• {{Citation

|last1=Fine|first1=Reuben|author-link=Reuben Fine

|last2=Benko|first2=Pal|author-link2=Pal Benko

|year=2003

|edition=2nd

|title=Basic Chess Endings (1941)

|publisher=McKay

|isbn= 0-8129-3493-8

|title-link=Basic Chess Endings}}

• {{citation

| last = Griffiths| first = Peter

| title = Exploring the Endgame

| publisher = American Chess Promotions

| year = 1992

| isbn = 0-939298-83-X

}}

• {{citation

|last1=Hooper

|first1=David

|author-link1=David Vincent Hooper

|last2=Whyld

|first2=Kenneth

|author-link2=Kenneth Whyld

|title=The Oxford Companion to Chess

|publisher=Oxford University Press

|edition=2nd

|year=1996

|orig-date=First pub. 1992

|contribution=rook

|pages=343–44

|isbn=0-19-280049-3 |title-link=The Oxford Companion to Chess

}}

• {{citation

| last=Horton | first=Byrne J.

| year=1959 | title=Dictionary of modern chess

| publisher=Philosophical Library

| place=New York

| oclc=606992

| page=175

| isbn=0-8065-0173-1}}

• {{citation

| last=Sunnucks | first=Anne |author-link=Anne Sunnucks

| year=1970

| title=The Encyclopaedia of Chess

| contribution=rook, the

| publisher=St. Martins Press

| isbn=978-0-7091-4697-1}}

{{Refend}}

{{Refbegin |30em}}

• {{citation

|author-link=Leonard Barden|author=Barden, Leonard

|year=1980

|title=Play Better Chess with Leonard Barden

|publisher=Octopus Books Limited

|isbn=0-7064-0967-1

|page=10}}

• {{citation

|author=Brace, Edward R.

|year=1977

|title=An Illustrated Dictionary of Chess

|contribution=rook

|publisher=Hamlyn Publishing Group

|isbn=1-55521-394-4

|pages=241–42}}

• {{citation

|last=Davidson|first=Henry

|year=1981

|orig-year=1949

|title=A Short History of Chess

|publisher=McKay

|isbn= 0-679-14550-8 |type=1981 paperback}}

• {{citation

| last=Lasker | first=Emanuel | author-link=Emanuel Lasker

| year=1947 | title=Lasker's Manual of Chess

| publisher=David McKay Company

| oclc=3636924

| page=8

| isbn=0-486-20640-8}}

• {{citation

|last=Pandolfini

|first=Bruce

|author-link=Bruce Pandolfini

|year=1986

|title=Let's Play Chess

|publisher=Fireside

|isbn=0-671-61983-7

|url-access=registration

|url=https://archive.org/details/letsplaychessste00pand

}}

{{Refend}}

• [http://www.chessvariants.org/piececlopedia.dir/rook.html Piececlopedia: Rook] by Fergus Duniho and Hans Bodlaender, The Chess Variant Pages

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