The term “Castling” is frequently heard in chess. Castling is said to be one of the most important rules in chess. Castling is done with the King and Rook. Because of these reasons rooks are also known as Castles. Just as it is important to know about the king, it is also essential to know about the rook.
Initially, rooks are located in the corners of the chessboard; More technically, in both “a” and “h” files. Since rooks are also considered to be major pieces, they stay behind the pawns and it cannot be used as an opening piece due to the above reason. As the battle is toughly happening at the center of the chessboard, the rook must move to the center of the board. While considering these position changes it is important to get familiar with the moves of the rook.
How does the Rook Move in Chess?
The rook moves along the ranks and the files as long as it is not getting blocked by any piece. The rook can make moves in a backward direction as well but, the rook can never jump over another piece except for the special case of castling.
How does the Rook Involve in Castling?
In the phenomenon of castling, the king has the advantage of ensuring his safety and the rook is being able to approach the center of the board. Apart from that, castling allows both the king and rook to move at the same time and allows the rook to jump over the king. Anyhow, castling should be done under several conditions.
Capturing a Piece with the Rook
Since the rook is considered a major piece in the game, it can capture any piece on the board which is in its moving direction. Once the rook captured a piece, it has to stop at that position which the enemy piece was. But unfortunately, the rook cannot capture pieces at the very beginning because it cannot start its moves until its path becomes clear.
The Special Performance of the Rook
Rook is a very talented piece in terms of checking. From the opening player’s vision, once when the rook reaches the 7th rank it can make huge damage to the unmoved pieces of the opponent that are in that rank. Finally, if the rook reaches the bottom rank of the opponent the king is trapped and checked; the king cannot make any escape moves within that row. The only survival for the king of the opponent is to call his troops to block the attack.
On the other hand, the rook holds a value-added move which is known as “Rook Lift”. What happens in rook lifting is, the pawn in front of the rook moves two squares first as the initial move of the pawn and then the rook is welcomed by the 3rd rank. This makes a better safety to the rook while allowing him to perform a better strategy within the game. This move gives an extra super chance to attack the opponent.