Roles and Positions of Rooks on the Chess Board

Rooks or "towers" are very special pieces in chess. They rank third from the king and second from the queen, and thus considered to be a major piece. We will appreciate more their value when we understand the initial position and role of rooks on the board.

Two rooks are provided for each player in the beginning of a chess game. They are placed at both extremes of the first rows of both white and black camps. Technically speaking, the white rooks occupy the coordinates A-1 and H-1 on the board while the black rooks the A-8 and H-8 coordinates on the board.

If only rooks were on their respective initial positions on the board and all the other pieces discarded, the board would be like being impaled with 4 big nails on all 4 corners.

Being placed on the last rows protected by pawns, rooks are meant to be played later in the game. They cannot comprise our first move in chess because they cannot jump over blocking pieces and they are not situated in front as freely as pawns are. Hence, rooks wait for a later time in the game for deployment. In the initial formation rooks are vulnerable pieces because they are not ably supported except for ally pieces crowding and blocking them around.

The position and role of rooks on the board can be gleaned from their first stations; they are for mid-play deployment and mostly for defense. Hence, at the start, we should not bother a lot with our rooks. Sending them out too soon would make our opening seem unnatural and even awkward.

Only novices would tinker with their rooks early in the game. We let the first batch pieces or initiators (usually pawns, knights and at times the queen) size up the enemy. When rooks are de-crowded that's when we move them a bit, usually through castling.

Always take note of the safety of our rooks in the beginning of the game. Remember, they are defenseless though they provide defense for the pawns in front them and the knights beside them. Thus, it is better to leave 2 or 3 pawns directly in front of them in the first phases of the play or make sure their horizontal clearance is there for easy maneuvering in case of danger.

Rooks are valuable pieces. So we ought to consider the position and role of rooks at setup stage and the first few phases of the play. This way, we make our rooks count.