Rook (chess) Rook (chess) A rook (; ♖,♜) is a piece in the strategy board game of chess. Formerly the piece (from Persian رخ "rokh"/"rukh") was called the "tower", "marquess", "rector", and "comes" . The term "castle" is considered informal, incorrect, or old-fashioned. Each player starts the game with two rooks, one on each of the corner squares on their own side of the board. The white rooks start on squares a1 and h1, while the black rooks start on a8 and h8. The rook moves horizontally or vertically, through any number of unoccupied squares (see diagram). As with captures by other
Vladimir Lazarev (chess player) Vladimir Lazarev (chess player) Vladimir Lazarev (; born 5 June 1964 in Saratov, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a chess Grandmaster, now living in France. After learning to play chess at fifteen, Vladimir Lazarev joined the chess club in his hometown, Saratov and progressed quickly under the direction of International Master Alexander Astashin. He the title of International Master title in 1991 and played many tournaments in Russia, with a prestigious victory in 1993 against Alexander Morozevich. Lazarev married Latvian born chess player Anda Šafranska (WGM). The couple is moved to France in Lyon and later to Paris. He was