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
Rules of chess are variations of the rules for fast chess, correspondence chess, online chess, and Chess960. Chess is a two-player board game utilizing a chessboard and sixteen pieces of six types for each player. Each type of piece moves in a distinct way. The goal of the game is to checkmate (threaten with unescapable capture) the opponent's king. Games do not necessarily end with checkmate; players often resign if they believe they will lose. A game can also end in a draw in several ways. Besides the basic moves of the pieces, rules also govern the equipment used, time control, conduct and