The Rook
Players meet the rook, learn its straight-line power and its value, and add it to their games. The board is nearly complete now.
Quick review. You now have four pieces on the table: pawn, bishop, knight, queen. Ask students to name how each one moves. Let the helpers jump in.
This piece looks like a little tower or castle. It is called the rook. If the bishop is the diagonal piece, the rook is its opposite: it moves in straight lines, up and down and side to side.
- The rook moves in straight lines: forward, backward, left, and right.
- It can move as many empty squares as it wants along a row or column.
- It cannot jump over pieces. It stops when blocked, or captures the piece in its way.
- Notice that the queen is really a bishop and a rook combined: she moves straight and diagonally. That is why she is so powerful.
That last connection is worth making explicit. Students who understand the rook and bishop suddenly understand why the queen is worth so much: she does both jobs at once.
The rook is worth 5, more than a bishop or knight but less than a queen. It is called a "major piece," like the queen. Point out the pattern: straight-line pieces that can travel far are worth more.
Add rooks to the game. Now players have pawns, bishops, knights, and rooks. The games are getting rich, and you will see real tactics beginning: players lining up rooks on open lines, using bishops and rooks together.
You are one piece away from real chess. Tomorrow the king arrives and everything connects. If a pair asks "where is the king?", tell them, "That is exactly what we learn next time, and then you play your first real game."