Chess for Beginners

How to Move the Pieces in Chess:

 How to Move the Rook in Chess

(How to Move the Castle in Chess)

 How to Move A Rook in Chess

Known traditionally as “The Rook”, some players also refer to this piece as “The Castle”. The rook can be seen as the fortress in the game of chess. Each placed in the corner of the board, the rook can be seen as the cornerstone of your game.

Visualize the rook as a tower with archer’s in it, able to shoot across the land. Similar to this metaphor, the rooks move across the board both up and down and side to side.

The two rooks each player has in the game of chess are incredibly valuable. The rook pieces are very good chess pieces for both capturing your opponents chess pieces, as well as capturing the King.

How to Move the Rook in Chess

1. The rook can only move in 4 directions in the game of chess, up & down, and side to side. 
2. This means the rook cannot move diagonally, but can move as many spaces up & down or side to side until either reaching the other end of the board, or coming in contact with another piece.
3. The rook can capture any piece within its direct line of movement. This makes the rook a very powerful piece on the chess board.

Capturing with the Rook In Chess

As seen below, the rook can attack both the bishop and the knight, as they are both within it’s range of attack.  

Notes About The Rook & How to Move the Rook in Chess

1. While the Rook is a very powerful piece, the rook can also be very vulnerable to attacks from pieces that can move diagonal. Make sure the rook is never exposed to diagonal attacks without a way to escape.
2. The rook cannot move through pieces. (No chess piece can do this). It can only move up to the piece it attacks, and take that pieces place, or move up to the place before a piece of it’s own team. (a piece of the same color).
3. The rook is part of a 2 position move known as “Castling” which involves the King. Learn more about “Castling” here. 
4. A rook has a value of “5”, the second highest after the queen.

Next:

Learn How To Move The Knight In Chess