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Rook (chess) facts for kids

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White rook
Black rook
Quick facts for kids
Chess pieces
Chess kdt45.svg King Chess klt45.svg
Chess qdt45.svg Queen Chess qlt45.svg
Chess rdt45.svg Rook Chess rlt45.svg
Chess bdt45.svg Bishop Chess blt45.svg
Chess ndt45.svg Knight Chess nlt45.svg
Chess pdt45.svg Pawn Chess plt45.svg

A rook (from Persian رخ rokh) is a piece in the board game of chess. Its name derives from its name in the old IndoArabic game (see History of chess). Each player starts the game with two rooks. When recording games, it is shortened to R, and when printed a figurine is used.

Starting place and moving

Moves of the rook
a b c d e f g h
8
Chessboard480.svg
d8 black cross
d7 black cross
d6 black cross
a5 black cross
b5 black cross
c5 black cross
d5 black rook
e5 black cross
f5 black cross
g5 black cross
h5 black cross
d4 black cross
d3 black cross
d2 black cross
d1 black cross
8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h

In chess notation, the white rooks start on the a1 and h1 squares, and the black rooks start on the a8 and h8 squares.

The rook moves forward or back on the files through any number of squares without other pieces on them, and sideways on the ranks. This is shown in the diagram below. Like other pieces, it captures by going into the square on which an enemy piece stands.

The rook and king also take part in a special move called castling.

ChessCastlingMovie
A chess castling move
Chess piece - White rook
A Staunton pattern rook


Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Torre (ajedrez) para niños

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