How the Rook Moves in Chess
In the third stage, your child starts learning how the pieces move, beginning with the rook: how it moves, what gets in its way, how it captures the opponent’s pieces and how it attacks them. The stage is made up of short videos, explanations and 85 exercises on an interactive board.
What’s in this stage
- How the rook moves in chess — 8 exercises
- Moving the rook from square to square — 12 exercises
- Can a rook jump over pieces — 7 exercises
- How the rook captures — 14 exercises
- How the rook attacks pieces — 19 exercises
- Attacking several pieces at once — 6 exercises
- Test yourself: exercises on everything you’ve learned — 19 exercises
Total: 85 exercises
How the rook moves in chess
The rook moves only in straight lines, along a file or a rank, any number of empty squares, but in just one direction per move. At the start of the game each player has two rooks, standing in the corners of the board. A rook is worth 5 pawns.
Moving the rook from square to square
In chess the players take turns: White, Black, then White again. In a single move a rook can cross the whole board, for example from a1 to a8 or from a1 to h1.
Can a rook jump over pieces
No. A rook can’t jump over any pieces, its own or the opponent’s: it travels along empty squares up to the first obstacle. Sometimes a rook has no moves at all. The only exception is castling, a special move of the king together with a rook.
How the rook captures
The rook captures the same way it moves: if the first thing in its path is an opponent’s piece or pawn, the rook moves onto that square and the captured piece is taken off the board. Capturing isn’t compulsory. If several pieces can be captured, it’s usually best to take the most valuable one, and this is where the pawn count from Stage 2 comes in handy. No piece can ever capture the king.
How the rook attacks pieces
To capture a piece that isn’t on the rook’s line, you first have to attack it: move the rook onto the same file or rank. Often there are two ways to do this, and sometimes you can attack a piece by capturing another one on the way.
Attacking several pieces at once
A well-placed rook can attack several pieces at once, along its file and its rank at the same time. And sometimes a piece only looks as if it’s under attack, because another piece blocks the way.
Test yourself: exercises on everything you’ve learned
A mix of exercises on every topic in this stage: moves, obstacles, capturing and attacking. In the next stage: the bishop.