The Rook
Meet the rook! It's this tower, and its personality matches — it only moves in straight lines. Forward, backward, left, right — and as many squares as it likes, even right across the board! But there's a condition: it can't jump over pieces, the path has to be clear. I've heard rooks are strongest on open files — nothing gets in their way there, so they can really pick up speed.
Look, the whole a-file is empty — for a rook that's like a runway! Race your rook from a1 all the way across the board to a8. Feel what a long-range piece this is: one move — and you're at the other end of the board. We pawns can only dream of that!
Whoosh! The whole file in one move — now that's speed!
And a rook captures exactly the way it moves: it races down a straight line to an enemy piece — and takes its place. See the black rook on a8? It stands on the same file as yours, with nothing in between. Take it! By the way, long-range pieces often strike across the whole board — beginners simply don't see those hits coming.
Bam! A strike across the whole board — I actually jumped!
This is a preview — the full interactive lesson is in the app.
Free, no ads · Android 8.0+ · coming soon to Google Play